Want to Retain People? Then Ask This One Question

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I have a question for you.

If you had to do it over again, would you say yes to working for your current manager?

If your first thought is, “Absolutely not!” then you’re not alone.

In a recent TinyPulse New Year Employee Report, one thousand working Americans shared their workplace wishes for the New Year. Participants were asked what one thing they wished they could change about their manager.

  The second most popular answer was to have their manager quit.

 This response aligns with what I see in my consulting practice and my personal life.

Take this afternoon for instance. My husband and I headed over to Chinatown for dim sum. Upon arrival at the restaurant, the hostess asked us if we minded sharing a table. We said, “No problem.”

Part of the fun of sitting with people you don’t know is getting to hear their stories. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, the woman next to me said she recently quit her job. She then went on to say that she did so because of her manager. You see, a new boss arrived on the scene and she didn’t care for the way he was treating her and the rest of the team. So, she quit. She said another friend quit her job as well, because of her boss.

Hmmm…that got me thinking. Maybe all this stuff about employee’s leaving their bosses and not their companies is really true. And if it is, then why are companies exerting a ton of energy and money trying to retain employees with fancy perks at work, when what people want is quite simple. They want a boss who inspires them.

Here are three ideas to help you develop magnetic leaders and increase employee retention.

1.    Stop spending money on perks that few people want and instead, invest this money in your leadership initiatives. Don’t have a leadership initiative? I can help you with that.

2.    No one wants to work for someone who dislikes his or her job. Ask people if they want to be a manager before promoting them into management. You cannot fake enjoying being in a leadership role. You have to really want the job.

3.    Give leaders access to a coach. Managers need to have a trusted resource they can turn to when they don’t know how to handle a situation. This resource used to be HR. However, HR people today are so busy trying to staff job openings, that there is little time available to work with individual leaders.

Before you say, “This is all really nice Roberta, but I can’t afford to implement any of your suggestions,” look closely at how much it costs your organization every time someone leaves your company.

Take my free employee turnover calculator for a spin. Send the results to [email protected], and we’ll set up a complimentary call to discuss a challenge you’re facing related to employee turnover.

Now how about that question? Are you going to ask employees if they would say yes again to working for their current manager? If you do, let us know if you were surprised by any responses you received. Feel free to share this in the comments section below.

 ? 2019, Matuson Consulting.

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