… maybe it’s an end of the year thing.  I have a lot going on, working on the new websites, putting some marketing plans in place for the new year, getting ready to do the next national benchmark study on workforce engagement, finalizing the second book and beginning work on the next two, etc…

However, I find my mind rambling.  For example:

I’m sure you have read that the State Department is having trouble hiring and retaining employees for Baghdad.  Talk about a tough recruiting gig!  Anyway, they are filling slots the only way the federal government knows;  depending on career level, a Foreign Service professional who takes a one-year Baghdad assignment could receive a 70 percent boost in base salary, premium pay for overtime, support for family members left behind, 10 weeks off and preference on the next assignment… AND FREE MEDICAL! 

The government is “buying” retention.  It’s a strategy that works.  However, retention is all they’ll get.  No engagement.  No “going above and beyond the call of duty”.  No helping out as part of a team.  You can do things to good people to make them do things they don’t want to do.   No puns intended, but these folks are going to “keep their head down” for the next year.

What if I train my employees and they leave?  What if you don’t train them and they stay…  You know how I feel about training employees for both their current job and for the long term.  I might have found my poster-boy company, United Technologies:

UTC’s Employee Scholar Program is a comprehensive tuition reimbursement initiative, implemented in 1996, which finances upfront every penny of an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree. Graduates can receive up to $10,000 in UTC stock.  Since the program’s inception, UTC has invested $626 million in ESP, a rate of about $70 million to $75 million annually. About 17,000 UTC employees have graduated over the lifetime of the initiative. About 14,000 are in classes now, or about 6.5 percent of the company’s 215,000-person workforce.

No matter where they’re located, once UTC workers graduate, there are no requirements placed on them to stay with the company—not even for a little while—or repay education expenses. They could leave immediately if they’re so inclined.

Wow.  Training employees so they can leave or else they’ll leave. Retention rates for ESP graduates are 2 percent to 3 percent higher than for their peers, according to company officials.  Excellent results.  Want some better ones?

Beyond recruiting and retention statistics, you can look at the company’s financial performance. In 2006, revenue increased by 12 percent over 2005 to $47.8 billion. Earnings per share were up 19 percent. Over the 10 years the tuition program has been in place, UTC has achieved shareholder return that is more than twice the Dow Jones and S&P 500 averages.  Happy employees make for happy customers who buy more stuff.  EZ Sneezy.