LEADERS,
MANAGERS, AND OWNERS: CAUSE AND CURE
(A pdf version is available at the bottom of this article.)
Job searches are up 40% from December
to January1. Why are some
people willing to stay or leave their current jobs, companies, or move to other
departments? Research consistently shows
over the years that it’s NOT because
of the money.
On the contrary, people are willing to stay in their job, department, or company, even when the pay is not very good, when these two primary qualities are present: 1) Exceptional Leadership (people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers); and 2) Opportunity for development.2
What are you doing that contributes to the employee staying or going? If managers knew the answer, it’s likely that the statistics shown above would not be so high. Your greatest strength can be your most dangerous blind spot.
FREE LUNCH CHALLENGE
Go to lunch with employees and ask
how their job maps to the business strategy, or how the manager supports their
personal vision for the future. Offer to
buy lunch if they have a concrete answer.
According to research, you have at least an 86%3 chance they
will not know the answer and you won’t be forking over any lunch money.
THE MISSING LINKS
Among the qualities that define
exceptional leadership4, people want to know and feel that: a) there
is a plan; b) they have a role to play that supports the plan (e.g., meaningful
work); c) there is empowerment to function independently; and d) there is opportunity
for professional development to achieve their best. “Opportunity” does not necessarily mean
promotion. Along the way they want transparency,
to be respected and supported. How do
you define success and encourage the people you manage or lead? If you verbally define what is expected, then
that’s your first warning flag. Effective
performance management tools, measurable objectives, cross-functional
opportunities, training, coaching, and mentorship are a few answers. An empowered employee has a multi-dimensional
process that helps them control their work and fosters power in managing their
success and failures.
LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS CAN BE DANGEROUS BLIND SPOTS
A successful leader and manager can
blend the skills of leadership, to inspire vision, confidence and stability,
with management to produce work results, while creating opportunity. However, most follow the cultural norm of
“command and control” to get the job done. Ask anyone who was promoted, or
manages a business about the different skills required. We tend to rely on the skills that were great
strengths that made us the success of today.
But those strengths are a liability going into the future. High-performing people don’t want to be
micro-managed. But, like most leaders,
managers, owners, and entrepreneurs, the solution tends to be running faster,
pushing harder, working longer, communicating ineffectively, and creating more procedures
to fix problems. In the process they
push away the greatest assets that could help achieve the sustainable success
they’re desperately seeking.
TAKE ACTION TO BE INFLUENTIAL
What have you done to influence
success and retention or departures? Small
business is able to easily attract and retain high quality talent from large
stable organizations when the company demonstrates the missing links. Everyone has their own internal motivation. What drives one person is not the same for
another. Leadership can inspire and tap
into human potential. To achieve greater
success and employee retention, know how you operate and how you affect the
people around you. If you’re not
absolutely certain, then find out. If
you are the obstacle to employee success, then you will continue attracting
employees that support your style, but not retain people who can achieve your
plan or vision.
1Corporate Executive Board (CEB) quarterly research of currently employed people seeking jobs, which is up even though unemployment is down. This also considers that January and February are the highest months for hiring according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
2 Forbes 1/2/2013 “Top Five Reasons
Employees Will Quit in 2013”
4 “8 Signs of an Extraordinary
Boss”
Posted on the blog http://mycoachken.blogspot.com/2013/03/top-reasons-people-stay-or-leave-job.html
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