Tanya walked into her boss’s office and placed a long envelope on his desk. “What’s this?” her manager inquired. “My letter of resignation, Frank. I found another job that is going to be a better fit for me.” Frank was stunned. “What is it, the money? Maybe I can get you a raise. Would that make a difference? You’re the glue that keeps everyone and everything on track around here. How much do you need to match that offer?”
It’s not all about the money. In today’s pressure some work environments, managers are so busy focusing on attaining stretch goals and tracking their numbers that they frequently forget that their employees need to be given adequate attention both personally and professionally. Take this short quiz to see if you are at risk of losing your valuable employees by taking them for granted:
Have you inquired as to whether your employees have sufficient resources to do the job you have asked them to do, and have you been their advocate to acquire those resources? Too many managers ask their employees to reach the goal without supporting them with the tools and resources they need to work at peak efficiency. This creates stress and frustration.
Have you given your employees balanced feedback – both positive and constructive – so that they can adjust to do a better job? Most employees want to do their best. While some managers are not comfortable or skilled in giving balanced feedback, they need develop those skills in order to fulfill that critical aspect of their leadership role.
Have you engaged your employees in how their work will be done? Managers generally will not have a choice about departmental objectives that have been handed down from the top. They can, however, be open to allow for employee input as to how the work will get done. Employees will better support what they help to create or define.
Have you taken the time to acknowledge and celebrate successes, both individually and as a team? Managers sometimes push on to the next project before employees have had the joy of celebrating a job well done. This helps them to recover physically and emotionally, building motivation and stamina for the next wave of demand on them.
Have you encouraged your high performers to take adequate time off to recharge their batteries? High achievers will frequently work unrealistic hours and skip vacations. What both employees and their managers fail to realize is that this plays into the law of diminishing returns. It feels like more is getting done, but creativity, quality and effectiveness are frequently compromised, along with the employee’s mental and physical well-being.
Have you discussed your employees’ career goals and invested in their continued learning? Smart managers are pumping up their training and development budgets. Growing employees benefits both the employee and the business. This investment is easily justified by the reduced cost of turnover and the increase in skills for improved performance.
Most importantly, have you spent some time acknowledging your employees as people with families and lives outside of work? The younger generations especially “work to live” rather than “live to work” as their parents did. It is important to them that all of who they are is taken into consideration and paid attention to, not just their role that earns them a paycheck.
