BY CORAL M. EVANS of Well-Run

Now, more than ever, in this economic downturn, it is extremely important for managers to learn how to retain their top talent. In today's market you cannot afford employees who drag down morale, destroy productivity, and distract you from important projects. Managers have to find new ways to lead and drive their employees to perform at their highest, most efficient levels. Motivating and inspiring your top talent is difficult to do when purse strings are tight and layoffs are inevitable. This article will help you identify the 6 top values that drive your employees, and give you easy and practical ways to motivate and inspire them.

The first and most common value found in today's employees is the UTILITARIAN. A utilitarian is driven by a need to discover utility and what is useful and practical. In all aspects of their lives they search for a return on investment of their time, energy, and money.

The utilitarian is your employee who is constantly discovering new and efficient ways to complete tasks and solve problems. They are the employees always trying to save the company money, while still maintaining and producing quality goods.

Engage and motivate your utilitarian employee by tying their need and easy ability to cut cost to their monetary bonus each month. For example, hold them accountable for budgets and quality control. Let each penny of their monetary compensation drive them to produce higher quality products with greater value.

Another important and common value found in today's organizations is the THEORETICAL value. It's easy to pinpoint the theoretical in your organization. They are the individuals who are always searching for answers. Their thirst for knowledge is insatiable. They take their time when solving problems, because they happily discover every detail and fact while researching for resolutions.

The theoretical in your organization is probably one of the easiest, if not the easiest to motivate. Help them learn! Fulfill their need and desire to be trained, developed, and educated. Have them become your expert on a particular topic and/or procedure. Have them tie their knowledge of the past to drive the future. Keep them engaged by challenging their research and their knowledge. The more you challenge them, the more they will want to know and learn. Remember, to always keep your theoretical informed. It is easy to do, but more importantly it won't cost you a dime.

Another important value to recognize in your employees is the high AESTHETIC. There are two types to recognize in your company. One type of high aesthetic will have a need for the finer things in life. They are the individuals dressed impeccably and driving a spotless car; or have pictures of nature hanging in their office. The other type of high aesthetic is the individual in your company who is easily upset or thrown off balance by negative relationships in the workplace.

An easy way to motivate the high aesthetic in your organization is through self-growth. Engage them in personal coaching and mentoring, take special time to point out that their feelings and opinions are important and valuable. Paying special one on one attention to your high aesthetic individuals will pay off in the long run. High aesthetic individuals strive for an environment that is warm and harmonious, where feelings, ideas, and emotions can be discussed freely. If you provide this type of environment for your high aesthetic, they should never want to leave your organization.

In addition to the values already mentioned in this article, another very important value recognize is the SOCIAL value. The Social value is obvious in many of today's Americans. This individual will always be thinking of others before themselves. They are often described as selfless and generous with their time, talent, and resources.

Engage your employee's social attitude by stressing that what they are doing is and will benefit "the people". Never speak of the bottom line or monetary value, over people. Tie their monetary benefits to donations the company gives to their favorite charity. Have your high social individuals handling people problems; have them be the individuals in the company smoothing over hurt feelings of other employees and customers. They will always see the customer's feelings over the company's bottom line and that will make them invaluable to your customer service.

Another very common value held by today's companies "top talent" is the INDIVIDUALISTIC. An individualistic wants personal power. They use their power to advance in position and status both in their personal and corporate lives. They are the ones who are always dropping names.

To motivate an individualistic you need to give them power through advancement, public recognition, authority, and material possessions. An Individualistic loves to hang their plaques of achievement on the wall and work in that corner office. However, use this advancement in power to your favor. Attach their name to everything that leaves their desk. Every decision they carry out should be recognized and treated as an example of them. If they want to look good, they will make quality decisions and produce quality goods. If they do not, it will reflect how you, the company, and everyone will see them.

Another value that you will see in your employees is the TRADITIONAL value. Traditionalists are probably the most difficult to motivate in a working environment. Some one with a high traditional works for a mission, everything they do represents and upholds their personal beliefs and principles. They have a system for living, which they uphold no matter what is happening. They are the employees in your company, who do not stay late, for any other reason then they want to be home for dinner with their family at 6:00 PM.

To retain this employee you need to have a working environment that upholds their high standards. Put them in charge of upholding the ethics and integrity of the company. Reinforce the fact that, what they do for the company reflects their beliefs and their standards... When traditionalists works in alignment with their values, results become easy, graceful and occur with velocity.

Motivating your top talent is the key to retaining them. You need to keep your employees interested. Always have their day filled with things to do. Be sure to assign their next project before they finish their last one. Always communicate the goals, strategies, and successes in the company. Keeping your employees informed of what is happening in the company reminds them that they are valued.

Remember, everyone's motivation is different in the workplace. So be sure to take the time to develop individual plans for individual employees. You cannot motivate your employees if you do not have a deep understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Always set expectations for their work, never allow them to question the quality of work they should be turning out. Be sure when you are assigning goals that they can be met with realistic schedules.

For more information on how to create a motivational environment to retain your top talent, please visit www.wellrun.com or call Well-Run Concepts at (805) 566-2900. Well-Run Concepts specializes in quick, practical, and efficient ways in "Helping Organizations Recruit, Train, and Retain Top Talent".

Make retention your #1 business strategy in these uncertain economic times! Remember, loyal top talent is one of the key reasons for your organization's success. There may be plenty of people out there wanting to work for your company, but are they the right ones?