Never Lose an Employee Again: The Simple Path to Remarkable Retention

by Joey Coleman

If keeping employees is a challenge for you, Never Lose an Employee Again offers a proven framework for increasing retention, engagement, and in the process, profits.

Joey Coleman, one of the world's leading experts on employee experience, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to recruit top talent, bring them onboard successfully, and keep them engaged while they produce remarkable results for years to come.

Finding and keeping quality employees is one of the greatest challenges facing businesses today. With more people quitting their jobs each month than ever before and employees demanding flexibility, freedom, and advancement, companies are struggling to build a foundation with new hires that leads to long-term commitment. To effectively combat the hiring crisis and remain competitive, business owners and managers must design an employee experience program that begins on day one.

In Never Lose an Employee Again, Coleman offers a step-by-step playbook for creating a retention plan with long-term success. With more than fifty proven case studies from organizations on seven continents, Coleman details how you can forge a relationship with your people during each of the eight phases of the employee journey. For each phase, Coleman walks you through the six forms of communication integral to success (in-person, email, phone, mail, video, and even gifts) so you can better connect with your team. You'll learn how to:

- write job descriptions that attract the right candidates (and plenty of them);
- counter the "hire's remorse" that every employee feels (yet few businesses ever address);
- welcome someone on their first day in a way that will leave them talking about it years later;
- acclimate your people to get them up and running faster and more effectively;
- re-engage your existing employees to turn them into raving fans;
... and much more.

Never Lose an Employee Again will reshape the way you think about recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and retaining quality team members-whether you are an owner looking to hire your first few employees, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or an enterprise that needs to keep growing on a global scale.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership

336 pages, Hardcover

Published June 27, 2023

Reviews

[Kari Olfert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, this is the sh*t right here. Move over Disney World because..

Let's start with Golden Rule #1

Employees are Less inclined to stay with the job simply because it provides them with a paycheck. They signed up with a certain experience, and if they do not get that experience, they are more than willing to look elsewhere. Employees are consumers of the workplace. They are drawn to brands they can connect with. And they stick with-even advocate for-brands that honor their promises.

They leave because of:

Career (32.3%) opportunities for promotion, security, etc

Job (10.9%) stress, etc

Health and family (10.7%) work related health, etc

Work-life balance (10.5%), you know the drill

Total rewards (9.5%) bonuses and pay

Relocation, management, environment, retirement, involuntary and general employment.

The structure of this book is 8 phases to wow your people:

1. Assess
2. Accept
3. Affirm
4. Activate
5. Acclimate
6. Accomplish
7. Adopt
8. Advocate

And six tools of communication to utilize:

1. In person
2. Email
3. Mail
4. Phone
5. Video
6. Gifts

I loved the example interview questions they gave!

What do you do to practice your skills (gives insight about a candidates habits and ongoing improvement of key skills)

What are your open tabs on your browser right now 👀 (explores personal interests and how someone thinks, preferred methods of learning and consuming content and organizational skills)

You have 2 teleportation devices. Where do you place them and why? (Helps reveal critical thinking and insight about where they want to go and why-often provides clues as to what the candidate values most)

What are your expectations of this job? If we hire you, what do we need to do in order for you to be excited to come to work every day and give us your best? (Gets the candidate to clearly state their expectations while providing insight as to their personal wishes, desires, and preferred ways of working/interacting)

I can tell you the large majority of companies, at least where I live, do not provide this experience 😂 serious revolution if they did.

[James Lovaas · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’re in a turbulent time when so many employers are struggling to find the employees they need to maintain their business…let alone grow the business. Worse yet, many employers still struggle to retain their existing employees during a time of quiet quitting (and employees simply ghosting their employer). However, recent surveys and studies indicate that more than 3 out of 4 employees that recently quit say they could have been retained and 69% quit for reasons that are considered preventable.

In the midst of this environment, Joey Coleman has published his second book, Never Lose an Employee Again: The Simple Path to Remarkable Retention. Previously, Coleman produced Never Lose a Customer Again.This new work takes his same commitment and applies it to our internal customer - our employee.

From recruitment to hiring to onboarding to maintaining, Coleman offers so many foundational truths combined with practical applications for managers,owners, and HR professionals. The reality is that while employers may carefully plan to post openings in their companies, so much less focus and effort have been applied to our actual hires. Let’s be honest, if a potential suitor (boyfriend/girlfriend) made such a little effort beyond the first date…most of us would never move past the first date.

Whether you’re a business owner, hiring manager, supervisor, or HR professional, it is worth your time to read Coleman’s book. Beyond the printed book, he also offers online resources to use in your workplace…and even some email encouragement as you work through the book. If you care…even a little, this book is worth your time!

Employers possess all the answers to stem the tide of the mass exodus of employees. If employers are willing to really listen to employees, they will gladly reveal what needs to be done to keep them - Danny Nelms, CEO of the Work Institute

[Neil Pasricha · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I worked at Walmart it was almost laughable how much more money we paid to hire “the next great exec” – some swooping superhero from Home Depot or whatever – rather than spend even a third or half that developing our own superheroes within. I worked there ten years and my last job was Director of Leadership Development. I made the boardroom presentation a handful of times. When internal leaders are brought in well – and brought into the fold well – they last longer, perform better, and are, bonus, cheaper. This book doesn’t make that case. It’s not pretending to be a big-idea “why” book – but wow is it ever a really, really good “how.” You want great people? Wan to bring them in well? Set them up for success? Joey Coleman has written my new favorite book on the topic. I’ll be recommending it to any leader -- small business or big! -- who tells me onboarding or retention or turnover are issues for them. The book is holistic – aimed at organizational cables and pulleys versus ‘you, the intrepid leader of people’. Joey organizes the book well and every section is full of his “it’s so obvious but I’m telling you with a giant gobsmacked smile so you don’t have to feel bad” tone with many fascinating (and snackable) business case studies throughout. (And I see Joey has posted the first three chapters on his website right here if you want to take a peek.) A wonderful guidebook for HR folks and leaders of large teams who want to invest in more trusting relationships with their people. Highly recommended.

[Scott Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Focused more on hiring than managing
This book identifies 8 phases that an employee goes through, Assess, Accept, Affirm, Activate, Acclimate, Accomplish, Adopt, and Advocate. This book has great advice for HR professionals as the book seems to really focus on advice to make the hiring and onboarding process meaningful for new employees. There are a lot of examples that carry significant costs to companies, but also some meaningful low/no cost things to do. As a manager I was very disappointed - I did not get any new insights or ideas on how to better engage existing employees. If you have not already read management books then this may be more valuable to you. It covers the basics - get to know your employees, what they care about, what their goals are, empower them to make decisions in how to do their work, and recognize good work and good efforts. All good things, but for me there was nothing new or creative in how to do this.

[Roger Custer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent advice for how to improve employee experience from the job description to thanking long time employees who retire or move on. Highly recommended for anyone who manages personnel.

[Juliet Alpha Charlie Unicorn]

Simple, pragmatic, but examples lack the global contextualization I wanted.

[Andreas Konstantinou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joey Coleman’s Never Lose an Employee again is a toolbox for a much ignored but defining part of the employee journey: the first 100 days. Beyond a toolbox, it’s a valuable reference with about 50 of case studies on how companies brilliantly innovate on attracting, onboarding and setting up their new hires for success. It’s also a lesson in deep empathy, as the author lucidly navigates the horrors new hires experience and how as a leader you can turn these first 100 days into an unforgettable “you want guess what happened today” positive experience.

Some of the refreshing examples I took away:
- Making the job ad as unique as the people you want to hire.
- Not being too prescriptive for hard skills on who you hire.. some candidates will have much to unlearn (eg if they worked for a very hierarchical culture) and you will miss culture fits who can be easily trained to new skills
- creating job offer letters that make the candidate feel wanted - more like a wedding invitation rather than a legal agreement
- Inviting reference requests using automated video interviews - and then compiling the “best of” for the new hire to celebrate
- Playing your new hire’s favorite song when they walk into work the first time
- hosting a graduation ceremony at the end of an onboarding process for a new starter
- celebrating when the new hire reaches their own, personal starting goals, for example a promotion, pay rise, manager experience or new skills.
- Using wearable “skill pins” to celebrate when employees complete training or attain new skills
- Writing personal letters to the spouse or parents of valued employees to thank them for their contribution to supporting and helping the employees shine

The book is a perfect complement to Geoff Smart’s Who, which covers the best-in-class interview process, while the Never Lose an Employee Again is a toolbox with best in class case studies for what comes after hiring, in the first 100 days of a new hire.

[Kaila Barrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent ideas if you’re looking for culture inspiration. I think it’s an idealistic way of conducting business and any book is a good read if you walk away with one thing minimum and I did. I plan to use his tools and resources. Just keep in mind that a lot of his suggestions are a bit extreme on a small scale.