We've all heard the saying: "People don't leave companies, they leave managers." This powerful truth speaks to the heart of employee retention. Managers have the ability to make or break the employee experience, influencing whether they stay and thrive or seek opportunities elsewhere.
How do we keep our best employees from looking elsewhere? Retention isn't just about compensation and benefits; it's about relationships and opportunities for growth. Your managers are in the best position to foster those relationships and nurture those opportunities. So, the solution lies in giving managers the skills to lead effectively. If we want to keep the stars of our organization, we must ensure that our managers shine first.
Leadership is an essential component of any successful organization. And in today's competitive business landscape, you need to continuously develop and nurture your leadership talent to stay ahead of the curve.
Effective leaders inspire, guide, and motivate their teams to achieve their goals and drive the company forward. However, leadership skills are not innate. But they can be developed and refined over time through training and experience. That's where custom leadership programs come in.
How many times has somebody come to you with a problem at work, and you just tell them the answer? Win-Win! Right? ... Until they come back tomorrow. And the next day. Again and again until all you do is solve their problems.
History has taught us that one of the main responsibilities of a manager is to answer employees' questions. Of course, this seems like a noble gesture. And it could be necessary when employees don’t have the needed information. But in reality, true empowerment comes from helping employees learn where to find or figure out what they need. And that comes from facilitation. When you provide a quick answer, you solve one problem. When you facilitate a discovery process, you create problem solvers!
We’ve all been there. And some are still there. Maybe this will remind you of the people on your team. In a spot where what was once a career is now just a job – a means to an end. All purpose is gone and people don’t feel valued. Negative behaviors have become the norm. It feels like some have given up. People start to feel stuck or are keeping their eyes peeled for a new job…far, far away from here. What happened?
The short answer: YOU could be the problem.In fact, an HBR survey revealed that 58% of people say they would trust a complete stranger over their own boss. That’s over half of your workforce. Do we have your attention yet?
You’re about to lose 40% of your workforce. Yep, we said it. That’s awfully close to HALF! Over recent years, we’ve seen many Baby Boomers retire. Waved goodbye as they took their knowledge and expertise out the door with them. As of December 2018, 39.2% of people in the US workforce were aged 55 or older. Traditionally, most people retire in their early to mid-60s. So what does this say for your company in the next 5-10 years?
There are all kinds of studies that show the main reasons people leave their jobs. One of the top reasons in almost every study is for lack of career development. So as an employee, you might ask yourself, “Who is responsible for my career development?”
Research by EdAssist and the University of Phoenix looked into that very question. Most workers (74% of them, actually) believe their company or manager is responsible. On the other hand, most managers (98% of them) said that employees have to take responsibility for their own career development. Those statistics alone show why so many companies fail at career development. Each party believes it’s the other person’s responsibility. So which is it?
Being a manager has its ups and downs. Sometimes, your team is on a roll; they’re rock stars. Things are going great. They’re following your direction and they’re hitting goals. Then you get to celebrate! Other times, nothing seems to be going right. You know you’ve got good people, but you can’t get them to follow your lead. You coach and train them several times, and while most of them catch on, there’s that one person who will continually do things his own way, despite all the time you spent training and coaching.
Confrontation is certainly not the easiest part of being a manager. In fact, it’s probably your least favorite. It’s human nature to avoid interpersonal discord. Many people hope a problem just corrects itself without our intervention. But, is that manner of thinking really reality? How can you provide coaching for an employee, co-worker, or even your own supervisor and have it be a positive experience? We’ve all heard of “The Supervisor Sandwich.”
