Companies invest a lot in finding top talent. Unfortunately, they often don't seem to invest as much in keeping them once they're on board. A recent Forbes article offers up the top ten reasons why large companies fail to keep their best talent. 

The two that struck me most (or, more accurately, the two things that fit tongue-in-groove with my focus) were:

#2: Failing to find a project for the talent that ignites their passion:
"Top talent isn’t driven by money and power, but by the opportunity to be a part of something huge, that will change the world, and for which they are really passionate. Big companies usually never spend the time to figure this out with those people."

and...

#4: No discussion around career development:
"Most bosses never engage with their employees about where they want to go in their careers — even the top talent. This represents a huge opportunity for you and your organization if you do bring it up."

Finding the fuel source

When people come to me for career passion coaching, it's typically because their current work doesn't tap into their passions (i.e., #2) and they don't know where to go from here in their career (#4). They typically feel frustrated and stuck, and many feel inclined to jump ship from their current jobs immediately. 

If you're a manager who wants to ensure your employees don't experience those reasons for leaving, try taking a page from the work I do helping my clients create careers that energize and engage them. 

It starts with my definition of passion: "The energy that comes from bringing more of YOU into what you do." It's the result of being who you are and doing the kinds of things that naturally energize you. 

Simple, right? The trouble is that most people have spent their lives so focused on external drivers like goals and achievement that they have no idea how to consciously make choices that bring more of who they are into the picture. 

So here's what I do with my clients (if you'd like to get a deeper picture, here is an article on planning for passion that looks at the process). I have them make a list of things they have loved doing over the course of their lives, work or play. Then they pick one and we start reverse engineering it, looking at why they love it. 

As we do the same thing for multiple items from the list of things that have lit them up, common themes start to emerge. Common characteristics start to show up that are consistently there in the things they find energizing. Some individual examples might be:

• Exploration and discovery
• Problem-solving
• A focus on the details
• Deep connection with people
• Analyzing 
• Creativity

Passion and Planning

As those underlying themes show up, we compile them in one place, so they have a list of characteristics that tend to be in place when they feel energized and engaged.

That becomes a tool (I think of it as an internal compass) they can use to both generate ideas for where to go in their career and evaluate opportunities as they come up. 

Imagine having that same insight into what makes your employees tick. Would it be helpful to understand what kinds of work leaves them feeling most energized? Would that help you design and refine their jobs to help them stay passionate? Would it be helpful to be able to have a career pathing conversation that looks at the possible paths in terms of which ones would leave them feeling most energized and performing at their best?

Sure, those insights take a little investment up front, but the pay-off is worth it.  

--

If you liked this post, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed.

 --

Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams

--

by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst