Intelligence
EA RETENTION GUIDE
You hired the right EA. Now how do you keep them.
Section 01
The Compensation Benchmark
Stage 3-4 London compensation is up 14% in two years. If your EA has not had a review, they are taking a real-terms pay cut. The market has moved. Their expectations have moved with it.
Most principals assume loyalty is enough. It is not. The EA who has been with you for three years and has not had a meaningful review is not staying out of contentment. They are staying out of inertia. Those are different things, and they end differently.
TalentSmiths offers annual benchmarking for placed EAs. One conversation. Concrete data. The principals who use it retain longer.
Section 02
Warning Signs
01
They have stopped anticipating
The EA who is engaged thinks three steps ahead. When they stop flagging what is coming, they have mentally stepped back. They are no longer invested in the outcome.
02
They are protecting their availability
An EA who is looking elsewhere starts managing their calendar differently. They are not blocking time for your priorities. They are leaving room for their own.
03
They ask about their development
This is not a warning sign on its own. But if they are asking and you have no answer, they will find one elsewhere. The question is a gift. The silence that follows is not.
04
They stop sharing context
The best EAs brief their principals. They share what they have heard, what they have noticed, what is coming. When that stops, the relationship has already changed.
Section 03
The Annual Conversation
Once a year. Not a performance review. A conversation about how the relationship is working.
What is the EA finding difficult? What do they wish the principal understood about their role? What would make the next year better than the last? These are not performance management questions. They are relationship questions. The distinction matters.
Most principals never have this conversation. The ones who do retain longer. Not because the conversation fixes everything. Because it signals that the relationship is worth investing in.
"The EA who stays for ten years was not retained.
They were invested in. Every year.
Before they started looking."
Next Step
Benchmark Your EA's Package
TalentSmiths provides annual compensation benchmarking for all placed EAs — one conversation, concrete data from 500+ placements. Contact us to arrange yours.
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