What Are the Chances We Could Get Ex-Employees to Repay Us for Their Training?

What Are the Chances We Could Get Ex-Employees to Repay Us for Their Training?

Q: We are paying to train and develop our employees, but many are leaving for other opportunities shortly after their training is complete. I know this is not uncommon, but it makes us wonder if we can force them to repay the money we've invested in them. Seeing them leave makes us wonder if training really is a retention tool. What should we do?

A: Without a legal agreement that is authorized by your counsel, you have little chance of collecting money when they quit. And enforcing such an agreement would require asking new hires to sign the agreement before they accept your job offer, which doesn't seem like the healthiest way to begin your relationship. So let's look to some retention practices instead, focusing on solutions for your hiring, your training and your leaders.

Hiring
1. Set a goal for HR hiring reps that a high percentage of new hires they recommend will stay for six months or longer, depending on the job, and then track their success. This moves them from filling seats to focusing on retention.

2. Give HR reps tools to help them achieve their retention goals. Before offering jobs, ask applicants a series of questions to screen out "short-termers" by inviting them to "please say no" to the offer. For example, these questions address whether the applicant is unsure about the pay and benefits, is waiting for an offer from another organization or is unwilling to work all of the schedules they might be assigned.

3. During exit interviews, ask those who leave if they plan to continue working in the same industry and in the same type of job. A pattern of "yes" answers tell you good things about your hiring practices, whereas a "no" pattern likely means they were poor matches to your job.

Training
1. Do the trainees learn the material? If the answer is no, they might be leaving because they know they will fail in their jobs. Check the quality of your training processes and also your trainers to make sure the training you offer is perfect.

2. Make sure, too, that only those who learn are retained. For example, we find that many call centers set a training goal that 85 percent or so of new trainees will graduate, which influences trainers to "pass" trainers who cannot succeed; the worst outcome is that good employees lose faith in the organization and take their talents elsewhere.

Leaders
1. Take an objective look at the leaders your trainees work with during training. Our research tells us over and over that employees join for things such as pay, benefits and schedules, but they stay for people - and the most influential people by far are their immediate supervisors. For trainees, supervisors might include classroom trainers as well.

2. As we've said in this publication before, leaders need retention talents like flexibility, retention monitoring, esteem building and, most important, trust. Leaders build trust by keeping commitments, telling the truth, sharing credit versus blame, avoiding misrepresenting themselves, admitting mistakes and supporting company policies. Those who build trust will contribute to your retention, and those who don't will contribute to your turnover.

Asking quitters to repay money is the easy way out, and it doesn't really solve your problem. There are retention solutions. Work hard to make them happen.


[Source: Dick Finnegan, chief client services officer, TalentKeepers, Maitland, Florida, December 11, 2006.]