- Love 'Em or Lose 'Em
- Beverly Kaye
- 487字
- 2021-04-03 17:19:12
It’s Up to You
Be a love ’em manager. A good boss who cares about keeping good employees will help them find what they want from their workplace. We’re not saying you carry this responsibility alone. Senior management and your organization’s policies, systems, and culture have an impact on your ability to keep talented people. You may have human resource professionals who can help support your efforts. Even your employees have a role. (See our book Love It, Don’t Leave It: 26 Ways to Get What You Want at Work.)
Yet, because of what research tells us about why people leave their jobs and organizations, you still have the greatest power (and responsibility) for keeping your talented employees.
“Bosses matter to everyone they oversee, but they matter most to those just beneath them in the pecking order: the people they guide at close range, who constantly tangle with the boss’s virtues, foibles, and quirks. Whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the head chef at a restaurant, your success depends on staying in tune with the people you interact with most frequently and intensely.”
Linda Hudson, CEO of BAE Systems, got this message after becoming the first female president of General Dynamics. After her first day on the job, a dozen women in her office imitated how she tied her scarf. Hudson realized, “It really was now about me and the context of setting the tone for the organization. That was a lesson I have never forgotten—that as a leader, people are looking at you in a way that you could not have imagined in other roles.” Hudson added that such scrutiny and the consequent responsibility is “something that I think about virtually every day.”
To Do
Start with a conversation—a “stay interview.” Learn about your talented employees’ goals and what they love (or don’t love) about their work. Don’t stop with one chat. Talk (and listen!) daily, weekly, monthly. Develop a true relationship with every single person you hope to keep on your team.
Hold “Alas Clinics”—opportunities to talk with others about talented people who have left your team lately. Why did they go? What role (if any) did you play in their leaving? How can you prevent more unwanted turnover?
Think about who might be “loose in the saddle” (about ready to leave you); talk with them soon, and collaborate with them to get more of what they want and need from you, from the team, from their jobs.
Go big picture. Ask yourself, “What kind of work environment do I want to create?” Then figure out what you need to do in order to make that vision come alive. Then—go do it!