Every employee is a key employee. As a benefits professional you are always seeking new business. This often means getting a business that is someone else's key client to become your key client. You are not alone. You have a team or office supporting you. Competitors are doing their best to persuade some of your key employees to become their key employees. How can you create an environment when they hang up the phone on those calls from competitors?

Strategy #1: Pay more money

It's often assumed people move because someone else offered them more money. The knee-jerk reaction is to offer your team member more money to stay. You tell them how they are an integral part of the team. They wonder, "If I'm so important, why didn't you offer me more money before?" Meanwhile, industry publications conduct surveys and run articles listing average salaries for different job descriptions in metro areas. This strategy can work, but there are alternatives.

You've heard the expression "golden handcuffs."  If your firm also advises on compensation plans, this may be an area where you have firsthand experience. Many firms award annual bonuses based on how well the firm, office and employee performed during the previous year. The major benefit is the one-off nature of the payment. Unlike salary increases, the increase doesn't become a built-in annual expense. The "golden handcuffs" enter the picture when the award involves stock options, restricted stock and vesting. This drives up the cost for the competitor seeking to hire them away because the key employee is leaving money on the table if they make a move.