ABSTRACT
Employee retention and separation strategies need to be closely aligned as part of an overall organizational strategy to have the best workforce possible. This chapter explores how to accomplish retention and separation successfully and thereby enable the organization to achieve its goals. Successful organizations constantly evaluate the knowledge, skills, and abilities of their employees to determine who should be retained, who requires further training, and who could be replaced by a better-performing individual. The employer should remember that cultural, social, and ethnic factors can influence how employees work and how supervisors work with them. Layoffs, or terminations due to budgetary constraints, are unrelated to employee performance. All employees must have technical and functional experience, have an understanding of the public service area they are working in, and maintain a results-oriented attitude. In many public organizations, layoffs are regulated by civil service processes that take into account labor contract requirements and seniority rules.
