There’s nothing more disruptive to a business then their best resources departing unexpectedly. It is difficult enough to attract good talent for an organization but attracting great talent and keeping them from quitting the organization is an even harder task to achieve. It is interesting to see people in leadership roles talk so much about retaining talented resources yet are unsuccessful in doing so. As someone has very rightly, “People don’t leave their companies, they leave their managers.” In the case of good employees leaving, unaware leaders are to be blamed; for they don’t really dig deep to understand the reasons behind employee departures.
The occasional reason behind your best talent leaving you may be an offer that is just too good to leave, but these reasons mostly stem from within the organization. While causes that are external to an organization cannot always be taken care of but the ones with their root causes lying within an organization can be identified and corrected quickly and easily. The great obstacle in identifying the causes is the employee’s unwillingness to share their real reasons for leaving. Once they have decided to quit, they don’t want to end things on a bitter note by pointing out flaws in their leader. But then there are other ways of finding out what people really think about their leaders. But the most effective way a leader can find out their employee’s real views and reasons is simply by reflecting back on all those times he/she decided to quit a particular organization.The answers would come right in front of you. The reasons may be many but their root cause would just be one and that is ‘mediocrity.’ Letting mediocrity take over the way things function in an organization is the best way to turn off your employees which either makes them complacent or compels them to leave. Now that you know the root cause here’s what you need to do.
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Identify the category of leader under which you fall — good leaders and bad leaders.
In this particular scenario, leader would be would be those who do everything they can to find out the real reasons behind why their best talent is leaving. A bad leader would be someone who stays unaware both, intentionally or unintentionally.
I am sure most of you reading this must have felt a strong urge to be counted amongst as good leaders. By now you may even have mentally prepared a list of reasons to back your claim.
That’s good! Now keep that feeling alive and ponder over the three questions listed below. Because that feeling is exactly from where you will derive the rest of your awareness into the psychology of your best employees as far as their reasons for quitting is concerned.
- Do you treat all your employees equally? If your answer is yes, then it’s only natural that good employees don’t want to stick around for long. Treating everyone equally may sound good, but that’s just unfair to your best performers as they produce more results. Treat them equally is equal to disregarding their efforts. Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to go out of your way to appreciate them. You need to treat all your employees fairly at the same time acknowledge the efforts of your top performers.
- Are you aware what each one of your employee values the most? We may work in a team but we are all, at the end of the day, individuals. What suits one may not suit the other. The same thought has to be kept in mind while rewarding your employees. Surprisingly, people are not always after monetary gains. Many of them crave for greater responsibilities, personal growth and development. If you link your reward to what is valuable to them, then they will happily stick around.
- Are your employees aware where their career is headed? The best employees always consider where their current project or department may lead them. Most of them complain that they don’t see themselves growing after a point or landing anywhere great. Hence, they start to look outside for opportunities to grow. As a good leader, you must provide your best performer a definitive career path within the organization if you want them to stick around. And for that, you yourself need to be more around your best employees taking an initiative to learn more about their future hopes and aspirations.
So, step out of your cabin and make an effort to get to know your people better. Not only will you see increased productivity but also be able to keep your best people them from quitting.
