????親愛的安妮：關于如何優雅地離職，您曾經寫過一篇專欄文章，我非常喜歡，可不幸的是，我有幾位最出色、經驗極為豐富的下屬似乎也拜讀了您的文章。過去三周內，有三個人“很優雅地”離職了，剩下的人對工作的熱情似乎也沒有以往那么高漲了。所以我擔心他們也可能離職。

????問題是，在經濟危機最嚴重的時候，公司不得不裁掉了大約一半員工，如今雖然公司業務有所好轉，但公司高層卻讓我們堅持“少花錢多辦事”的原則。結果，公司所有人都在超負荷運轉，我也不例外。而且，為了防止多招人手，公司限制了預算，這也導致我無法給手下的關鍵員工加薪。我應該不是唯一一個如此糾結的上司吧。您有什么好的建議嗎？——LBB

????親愛的LBB：你竟然沒權利給下屬加薪，這確實令人非常遺憾（其實，你自己肯定也希望得到加薪），但不必擔心。絕大多數員工留任方面的專家都表示，加薪不一定有多大幫助，至少不是長久之計。

????德勤咨詢公司（Deloitte Consulting）最近進行了一項名為“人才2020”（Talent 2020）的研究，對最近換工作的560人進行了深入調查。研究發現，導致人們辭職最大的原因與薪酬幾乎沒有任何關系。相反，42%的人稱，最主要的原因通常是因為其他公司能夠提供更多機會，讓員工更好地發展技術、發揮能力。超過四分之一（27%）的人表示跳槽的原因是之前的工作缺乏職業發展前景。而21%的人由于“缺乏挑戰性”而選擇跳槽。

????換句話說，就是員工厭煩了之前的工作，而工作量增加更是加劇了這種情緒，尤其是對于最優秀、最出色的員工來說。德勤人才服務部負責人比爾?皮爾斯特發現：“具備關鍵技能的員工跳槽的可能性也最大，”他補充說?！耙糇∵@些員工，不單是人力資源部的工作。必須從高層開始，貫徹到每一個管理層，直至一線管理人員?！?/p>

????這也正是你的工作切入點。顧問公司Career Systems International聯席CEO貝弗利?凱伊稱：“要留住最優秀的員工，通常需要與他們進行正確的溝通，而這不需要花一分錢。人們需要的是被重視的感覺，他們希望未來在你這里能繼續得到更好的發展?！必惛ダ?凱伊與他人合作出版了一本新書，名為《員工想要的職場對話：幫助成長，關注發展》（Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want）。

????她補充道：“經理人不會每天早上一醒來就考慮：‘今天該如何榨干我的下屬？’只有當所有人都疲于奔命，過于專注于自己每天所受到的壓迫，才會發生這樣的事”。如何避免優秀人才流失？凱伊給出了三種策略建議：

1. 多說“謝謝你”

????聽起來非常簡單，但凱伊發現，她的這種所謂“感謝的力量”在客戶那里始終沒有得到充分利用。她說：“員工工作壓力過大的時候，如果沒人說‘我知道大家工作負擔非常沉重，非常感謝大家的付出’這樣的話，他們會感到更加沮喪?！?/p>

????此外，也不要把表揚保留到一年一次的績效評估當中?！皯摪驯頁P融入到日常工作當中。一句‘干得好！’可以讓人開心一整天。這可是不花錢的禮物?！彼ㄗh，表揚的時候，要考慮員工的個人喜好。凱伊發現：“有的人享受公開表揚的過程。而有的人則會對此感到很不自在，希望在私底下，聽到別人一對一的‘感謝’?！比绻涣私庀聦俚南埠?，可以直接詢問。

2. 開始進行“留任面談”

????凱伊發現，在離職面談之前，幾乎很少有人會主動去問，需要什么樣的條件才能留住關鍵員工。她說：“最后的結果就是，員工跳槽后得到的條件，你本來也能提供，只不過前提是，你要提早知曉。但大部分管理人員都很少會主動問：‘我們怎樣才能留住你？’而等知道答案時卻已為時已晚?！?/p>

????Dear Annie:I liked your column about the art of quitting gracefully, but unfortunately several of my most talented and experienced direct reports seem to have read it, too. Three of them have quit (gracefully) in the past three weeks, and certain others seem less enthusiastic about their jobs than they used to be, so I'm worried about losing them as well.

????The problem around here is that we had to lay off almost half the staff during the worst of the recession and, now that business has picked up again to some extent, top management is telling us to keep right on "doing more with less." Everyone has been overworked, including me, and the same budget constraints that preclude hiring more people are also standing in the way of my being able to offer my stars more money. I can't be the only boss who's struggling with this. Any suggestions? — Low-Budget Blues

????Dear LBB:It is indeed unfortunate that you can't hand out big raises (you'd probably like one yourself, for that matter), but don't fret about it. An overwhelming majority of experts on employee retention say more money probably wouldn't help much anyway, or at least not for long.

????A new study called Talent 2020 from Deloitte Consulting, based on an in-depth poll of 560 recent job changers, says that the biggest reasons people quit have little or nothing to do with pay. Instead, what most often makes them move on is the opportunity to develop and use more of their skills and abilities elsewhere, cited by 42%. More than a quarter (27%) also cited a lack of career progress in their old jobs, and 21% mentioned "lack of challenge."

????In other words, people get bored, and the added work only exacerbates that -- especially for your best and brightest. "Employees with critical skills pose the biggest flight risk," notes Bill Pelster, a principal in Deloitte's U.S. talent services division. Retaining these folks "is not simply a human resources function," he adds. "It has to start with the C-suite and extend through every level of management, down to line managers and supervisors."

????This is where you come in. "Keeping your best people is often a matter of having the right conversations with them, which doesn't cost a dime," says Beverly Kaye, co-CEO of consulting firm Career Systems International and co-author of a new book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want. "People want to feel valued, and they want to see a future with you where they can continue to develop and thrive.

????"Managers don't wake up in the morning and ask themselves, 'How can I burn out my people today?'" she adds. "It just happens because everyone is so busy and so focused on the crush of the day-to-day." Kaye recommends these three strategies for keeping your stars from straying:

1. Say "thank you."

????Simple as it sounds, Kaye has observed among her clients that what she calls "the power of the thank-you" is a woefully underused resource. "People are more frustrated about being overworked if no one is telling them, 'I understand how tough this is, and I appreciate it,'" she observes.

????Nor should pats on the back be reserved for a once-a-year performance appraisal: "This should be woven into the daily texture of the work. Just saying, 'Great job!' can make someone's day. It's a gift you can give that costs nothing." While you're at it, she advises, try to tailor your attaboys (or attagirls) to people's individual preferences. "Some people revel in public recognition. Others are embarrassed by that and would rather hear 'thanks' one-on-one, in private," Kaye notes. If you don't know who prefers which, just ask.

2. Start having "stay interviews."

????All too often, Kaye observes, nobody asks what it would take to keep a key employee until the exit interview. "People end up going somewhere else to get something you could have given them, too, if you'd only known about it," she says. "But most managers never ask, 'What can we do to keep you?' until it's too late."