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FEATURE STORY:
EMPLOYEE TURNOVER: ARE YOUR
MANAGERS TO BLAME?
Never underestimate the power of a good relationship between your company's managers and employees. The "quality of life" factor that employees highly prize in a job goes beyond the number of hours they work, the distance of their commute, and their ability to achieve a work/life balance. How employees are treated on the job will obviously affect the quality of their work lives. It will also color their personal lives; employees who are mistreated by management will certainly bring some of their stress, complaints, and unhappiness home with them.
It is often said that employees don't leave companies, they leave managers. That's why it is so important to educate your managers on their starring role in creating a positive environment that will help make employees want to stay. Gregory P. Smith, Founder and President of Chart Your Course International, will discuss the different behaviors employees want from their managers in an upcoming AHI web conference. Here are a few.
1. Communicate. Employees want their managers to communicate their expectations; provide feedback on their performance; report company news; inform them of changes that affect them; explain policies, procedures, and practices. But it goes both ways. Employees want to be heard, too. Open and honest communication builds trust, and employees are more likely to stick with a manager they trust than one they don't.
2. Appreciate. How often have you heard that a simple "thank you" goes a long way? But are your managers actually saying it — and saying it enough?
3. Reward performance. Most people work to live, rather than the other way around, so make sure managers: reward good performers with ample raises and bonuses; promote from within instead of placing someone from the outside into a plum position; and give employees the training, responsibilities, and duties that can lead to promotions, raises, and bonuses.
4. Set a good example. Good managers set the performance bar high for employees and crack down on miscreants. Bad ones act as though the bar, and the rules, don't apply to them.
5. Show genuine concern. Human Resources professionals may have to remind managers about the "human" side of business. If an employee asks for leave to take care of an elderly parent, a manager’s main concern should not be how inconvenient the employee's absence will be.
A company can spend much time and energy coming up with interesting perks and fun events, but they can quickly be trumped by a bad manager. You need to pay equal attention to both aspects. Gregory P. Smith will talk about five additional management behaviors, and explore other best practices for keeping employees on board in an upcoming web conference on Transforming Your Workforce From High Turnover To High Retention. |
