Wallstone Services
Key Employee Retention Programs

As businesses grow their owners become more and more dependent on employees to play key roles. This means the risk of losing one or more key individuals carries with it ever-growing consequences.

Lost would be the considerable investment inherent in training and developing that person. Perhaps worse is the lost productivity rippling through the company as it must step backward while a replacement can be found and brought up to the capabilities of the departed employee. The closer to the owner’s role an employee plays, the heavier the financial consequences of their loss and the heavier the load falling back upon the owner. In some cases, the lost employee is so key to a company it may never regain the same level of success.

Given what is at stake, it only makes sense to take special care of your best employees to minimize the risks of losing them. This is best done by providing them not with the things you think they want, but rather the things they feel are important. So ask them to identify each factor they view as important to their future with the company.

Each person’s wants and needs will vary, but among the more common opportunities coveted by today's top talent are:

• Regularly increasing their compensation, including by tax-advantaged means.
• Sharing in the profit they help create.
• Sharing in the appreciating value of the company.
• Becoming one of the owners.
• Assuming the top position when the current owners retire.

The challenge is to find a means of satisfying all of an employee’s wants without overly compromising the financial goals of the the company and its owners. In addition, an effective retention program should promote the employee's longevity by creating not only feelings of reward and fulfillment, but also the perception of a looming lost financial opportunity upon departure.

There are any number of strategies that can be utilized individually or in tandem to encourage longevity while motivating employees to continue raising their level of contribution to the company’s financial success. Some of which are:

• Incentive Compensation Arrangements.
• Deferred Compensation Plans.
• Profit Participation Formulas.
• Synthetic Ownership Plans.
• Ownership Bonus Plans.
• Buy-Sell Agreements.

It has been said: “Employees are a company’s most valuable asset.” Why not let us show you how to lock up your most valued employees with “golden handcuffs” in the form of a strategic retention program.

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