The brilliant strategy Michelin uses to keep its best employees from quitting
Stafford divides Michelin employees into two groups.
The first group bounces around from one job to another. They might start in accounting, move to research and development, and end up in operations. Stafford says these workers want to "go wide" in their careers and to "broaden themselves" as people.
The second group is focused on "going deep." They tend to join the company and work their way up the corporate ladder in of one specialty.
Because an employee might join Michelin and then transition out of their current role in the future, the company must look beyond skill sets during the hiring process.
Stafford says they still hire for certain skills, but they also focus on the candidate's goals. "We have to ask if they are looking for a job or a career."
Michelin's HR team looks for people who are "embracing what we want to be as an organization," Stafford says. "We want to offer something good to the community; we believe the market wants it."
Michelin's career-development program has been a huge success in creating employee loyalty. From 2009 to 2015, only 3% of employees quit, according to the company.
"People see very quickly that they have a chance to grow by working in different positions within different areas of the company," Stafford says. "As we develop their career paths over time, they buy into what the company is focused on. You end up building this incredible stickiness between employee and company."