The reality is, people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.
Employee turnover is an unfortunate reality for many companies. As a leader, even if your organization is not necessarily plagued by high turnover, the fear of losing your valuable team members has most likely crossed your mind. Many team leaders are quick to point the finger at everything under the sun for why they can’t seem to keep their top performers. But the reality is, people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.
What kind of leadership skills should you cultivate in order to attract the right talent? First let’s talk about what NOT to do. Common motivation-killers in a business team include micromanaging, not recognizing accomplishments, and tolerating poor work performance. As tempting as it may be to want to do everything yourself, failing to delegate sends the message to your team that you don’t trust them. Similarly, not holding someone accountable for poor work product, or for having a consistent negative attitude is just as damaging to overall morale. If you tolerate mediocre work performance, what incentive do high performers have to stay at your organization? High performers know their worth, and they want to invest in an organization that invests in them. Leaders who want to attract and retain the best talent possible have to have an approach that both motivates and values high performance. They must also have accountability measures in place – this sends the message that they care greatly about the health of the organization; and in turn the team will care about this too.
Are you a leader struggling with retaining your best talent? Read Travis Bradberry’s article, “Bad Mistakes That Make Good Employees Leave” and reflect on whether you need to start doing things differently.
Deseri Garcia
Most leaders struggle with disengagement, dysfunction, and non-productive behaviors with their teams. We deliver training that develops leaders and engages teams to increase your company results.