Is Queen Elizabeth the Ultimate Long-Term Employee?

Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria

Imagine you had an employee that performed her job duties impeccably, remained utterly loyal to your organization, never brought personal "drama" to the workplace, and was willing to stay in the same position without complaint for over 60 years. Sounds like a dream employee, doesn't it?

England's Queen Elizabeth II may just be that person. Of course, referring to a monarch as an employee is a bit of a stretch. But most would agree that she has led a life of service to the Empire and few would criticize her level of dedication.

This week Queen Elizabeth II will overtake her great-grandmother Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning monarch of the British Empire and the longest-reigning female monarch in history. She acscended to the throne at the age of 25 on February 6, 1952 after the death of her father King George VI (she is currently 89 years old). Queen Victoria ruled until her death in 1901 for a total of 63 years, seven months and two days.

An HR perspective: Retaining "Star" Employees

We all know that not all team members are created equal. Some bring a higher level of competence, commitment, and positivity to the workplace. It's critical for managers to identify those "star" employees and take pro-active steps to retain and develop those "stars." 

Here are some tips on how to retain your "star" employees:

• Identify your highest perfomers, including those who have a critical expertise and those who exhibit exceptional customer service skills. Exclude those who do not exhibit a positive attitute, regardless of how well they perform their day-to-day job duties. 
• Ensure that your compensation and benefit package for key employees is sufficiently attractive and include loyalty incentives.
• Remove unnecessary frustrations (including distracting, unproductive peers) and other obstacles that prohibit key employees from performing optimally.
• Share opportunities for meaningful and challenging work with them. True "stars" will jump at the chance to take on new challenges that go beyond their regular day-to-day duties.
• Create a specific Career Path document with the employee that includes opportunities for promotions and what skills or education they would have to acquire in order to achieve them. Verbal comments such as "I see great things for you" are not sufficient.
• Design and implement a reward & recognition program that encourages innovation and process improvements. Such a program can focus on "soft HR factors" such as appreciation and personal touches, rather than just financial compensation.
• Launch an Employee Satisfaction Survey with questions related to how long employees plan to stay with your company and take action based on the results.

Do you have any Queen Elizabeth-types in your organization? Do you have different strategies that you deploy to retain your "star" employees? If you would like to speak to an HR professional about developing pro-active retention strategies, don't hesitate to contact us at info@clearpathemployer.com.

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