Create Retention Momentum
The Real Reasons Employees Leave, and How to Keep the Best
Why do people leave teams and organizations?
The No. 1 reason people leave jobs is because they fail to connect with their bosses as leaders and as people. People are rarely honest about why they leave a company. Too many associates that depart follow the advice of Jimmy Conway (played by Robert DeNiro) in the 1990 hit movie Goodfellas, who told Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta), Never rat on your friends, and keep your mouth shut.
There is no up-side incentive for the employee to be open and honest. Think about it: the primary reason people leave companies is because of the relationship and lack of emotional connection with their boss. However, it is almost never talked about in the exit interview. Why? Who wants to burn a bridge with a boss they may need for a future job reference? It is easier to talk about work-life balance, moving on to build your skill sets, or the need to make more money. Salary is much further down the list as a reason to leave than what is usually reported in exit interviews.
What is your current game plan to keep your best people? While most companies talk a great deal about the need to retain the best people to sustain growth, they lack an integrated game plan to create retention momentum.
As a leader, you are personally accountable to acquire and retain the very best people. It is that simple. If you fail to recruit and retain the top talent, you will not sustain growth over time. At the end of the day, the effective leader must embrace a plan to retain the very best talent.
Emotional Connection Points
Emotional connections provide the fuels that greatly enhance retention. It is driven by the trust and development of your individual team members. It starts with building your emotional connections with each team member.
The power of the unexpected is the most powerful way to emotionally connect with another person. Think about it: do you get more credit with your significant other when you send a handwritten note when they least expect it? Of course you do. The same concept applies to you as a leader. It is the unexpected things a leader does that really make the difference. Some examples:
Retailer Connection
Ron Cox, an Ace True Value Hardware owner in Appleton, Wis., represents a great example of emotionally connecting with employees. He sent a handwritten note and gift card to the significant other of each of his star employees to let them know how much their spouse meant to his store as a highly valued employee and person. These emotional connections will be transferred to the customer as Coxs staff pays it forward.
In the 2000 movie Pay It Forward, Kevin Spacey indicated that sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference, and by using random acts of kindness you can pay it forward. This will work very well from you to your employees and in turn to your customers.
Big Foot
I have always had a habit as a leader of stomping my feet when I walk down the hallway. People could always hear my size 12 loafers before we made visual contact. This habit has followed me throughout my career.
During my early years I was counseled to walk slower and talk lower if I really wanted to move into senior management ranks. My teams always had fun with my foot stomping on a regular basis. In fact, I was given the unexpected gift of a big boot from my team that was placed on a plaque with the inscription Big Foot Keep on Stompin. Everyone had a lot of fun with this award at my expense. I loved it!
Combine all of these emotional connections with self-effacing humor. Always remember, humor at the expense of your team almost always removes deposits from the emotional connection bank. Take your job seriously, but go crazy making fun of yourself. Your team will love it. Humor also relaxes your team and reduces tension. Why were the movie and television series M*A*S*H so successful? They conveyed the humor that was so necessary to maintain sanity in a horrific situation.
Home Turf
Dont forget how the little things can make a huge difference. For example, instead of always having your people meet with you in your office, go visit them on their home turf. It is a sign of mutual respect.
The ironic part is that, by going to their home base, you give up your legitimate management authority to that person. They will actually see you as a more confident and caring leader. The location of the meeting is a little thing that makes a big difference. You will increase your effectiveness as a leader when you visit your peoples home turf regularly.
Make Time to Connect
Remember, people do not usually leave organizations. They leave their leaders. If you lose enough good people, your organization will be unable to grow. The effective leader understands that emotional connections to the leader are the most powerful retention devices in the tool kit.
If this is all true, why do leaders so often fail to build these emotional connections with their people? Because it takes time and places leaders outside their comfort zones, thus increasing their vulnerability.
It is easier to tackle those 85 E-mails sitting in your in-box. What many leaders fail to realize is that they are actually more vulnerable if they choose not to invest the time to do it. How does the time needed to replace all your top talent compare with the investment you need to make to emotionally connect with your people? You need to invest every day.
Jim Welch is founder and president of The Growth Leader Inc., a business-leadership consulting firm, and principal owner in LeadershipFuelNow, LLC. He works with Fortune 500 clients and entrepreneurs throughout the U.S. He is the author of Grow Now: 8 Essential Steps to Flex Your Leadership Muscles;www.thegrowthleader.com