Improve Retention Rates
Create an Environment Conducive to Employee Satisfaction
I get it, The Great Resignation and the Great Reshuffle are hurting organizations across the country.
Focusing on the retention of good employees is going to help you get back to "normal" turnover rates.
????One of the things employers can do to combat high turnover is to create an environment conducive to employee satisfaction. Satisfied employees tend to have higher retention rates.
No, this does not mean coddling them.
No, this does not mean placating them.
??It means truly investing your time and energy in being an active leader who will inspire trust, strengthen relationships, and improve retention rates!
So, what does this mean?
Well, it will look different in every organization because of the context of the organization and because of THE POWER OF ME LEADERSHIP.
Remember, THE POWER OF ME LEADERSHIP is a concept that everybody can lead by utilizing the skills and values they already possess. The beauty of this approach? We can all embrace the SAME LEADERSHIP TENETS, but it will look different based on our individualism!
More about The Power of Me Leadership can be found in my recently published book by the same name, which is now available on Amazon! You can find it HERE.
Here are 5 leadership tenets that EVERY leader can embrace in order to be a better leader, which will ultimately help with employee retention:
BE BEYOND REPROACH
When a leader acts in an unethical or immoral manner, people will notice.? Eventually, that leader will get questioned on his/her actions, motives, and decisions.? Most questions will be accusatory in nature and WILL BE JUSTIFIED.? These people saw poor behavior so they questioned everything about the leader.?
????This situation is the LEADER’S fault and the leader must fix it.
When leaders are beyond reproach, in other words, always act in a moral and ethical manner, questioning is different.? These questions are from people looking for something that is not there.??
????When people question a leader whose actions are always beyond reproach, the person asking the question owns the problem.
??Don’t give people a reason to question your motives: act morally and ethically!
??Being beyond reproach will help you gain trust with your employees and help you retain the great ones.
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
I have listened to countless leaders throughout my career and I am often confused when I hear them say one thing and then watch them act in a totally contradictory manner.? When a leader does this he/she loses credibility immediately.
One of the keywords that I frequently hear is “transparency.”? Well, I can tell you, I am not a fan of spouting off at the mouth and claiming to all within earshot, that “I am transparent.”??
I have worked closely with contemporaries who advertised they were “transparent.”? I then saw them go behind closed doors and exit with decisions…without involving the right people in the discussion. Their credibility was shot.
Employees do not want to hear about what you are going to do.? They want to see you do it.
If you want to be transparent, go ahead and talk about it.? I simply caution you to ensure you are truly being as transparent as you claim you are.
????Letting your actions speak for themselves is a way to gain trust.
????Trust leads to employee satisfaction
????Employee satisfaction leads to higher retention rates.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE
Employers (aka leaders!), your most important asset is your coworkers!!!
You need to focus on them and take care of them.??
"Take care of your people" means things like:
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The leadership tenet “take care of your people,” can and should be embraced by all leaders.
How it looks and works in your world will be different than how it looks in mine due to our individual strengths and values, our position within our organizations, and our context.
If you have paid attention to the LinkedIn posts I do on Fridays, then you have seen me encourage all of you to “spread the love!”? This simply means overtly and consciously "make connections with your coworkers".
If you build relationships with your people, they will be more satisfied.
Satisfied employees tend to stay with their employers.
LEAD LIKE KING ARTHUR
I have always known that I do not have all the answers.? This was magnified when I became a non-commissioned officer in the US Army at age 21 and then again when I became an associate principal after teaching for only 5 years.
My assumption that I did not have all the answers was quickly reinforced by the vast knowledge I encountered with my new contemporaries in those roles.
??So, once I was leading my own teams I embraced “Leading Like King Arthur”.
In case you are not familiar with King Arthur, here is a quick summary: he had a team of trusted advisors who met at a round table where all were able to voice an opinion on the topic at hand.? They provided King Arthur with sage advice that informed the decisions he had to make.
They were the famed “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.”
Assuming he was real (seriously, I took an honors colloquium course in which every day we discussed whether he was real or not and the professor had actually written her dissertation about him!), King Arthur embraced the idea that he did not have all the answers and points of view from his Knights could inform the decisions he had to make.
Embrace your teammates: they have points of view that you may not have already considered. This will make you a better leader.
Additionally, keep in mind the more diverse your team is, the better your decisions will be.
BE THE BUFFALO!
??Another leadership tenet you should adopt so you can become a better leader is “Be the Buffalo!”
What does “Be the Buffalo” mean??
Simply put, it is a way to approach leadership, and life, for that matter.
Let me explain: when you are on the Great Plains, due to its expansiveness and the lack of enormous hills/mountains and trees, it is easy to see for a very long distance.
Storms are easy to see from far away.
When the buffalo see storms coming, they move toward them. So, as the storm is coming at them, the buffalo approach it.?
I trust that you can envision the fact that with the storm moving east and the buffaloes moving west, they will get through it faster than if they had run from it.
Now, picture the problems and issues you encounter.
If you run from them, 1 of 2 things happen:
????You ignore it and the problem is never resolved.
????You eventually face the problem and in the meantime, you have experienced all sorts of angst due to your avoidance tactic.
Be the Buffalo in all you do by addressing issues in front of you, rather than running from them.
When you are “the buffalo,” your coworkers will see an engaged leader who understands accountability. This will build better relationships and trust and help keep your employees satisfied.
??All of these tenets will lead to better leadership. You do not have to adopt all of them or in a particular order.
ANYTHING you do with one of these tenets will lead to greater success as a leader. When you are a better leader, your employees will be more satisfied and your retention rates will improve.
????Email me today at [email protected] so you can start creating compensation systems that will help you win in today's employment market!?
??You can do this.
??Good luck.