Employees leave organizations for many reasons, and there are few worse feelings for a manager than when a valued employee announces they are resigning.
Especially if the employee has critical skills or knowledge. In this case, their resignation will cause disruption, and if they're going to a competitor, then, the loss will be all the worse. 🚩 𝙎𝙤, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚. It’s certainly important to find out why someone is leaving, so that you can potentially identify problem areas. And make the necessary changes. However, unless the reason for leaving is clearly a quick fix, be cautious about convincing them to stay. Because, usually, once an employee has reached the stage of resigning, with the thought that typically goes into such a decision, they have already ‘left’. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙚𝙩, 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. If the employee is unhappy, it could negatively impact team morale. Because disengagement is contagious, and it will spread, undermining your culture. So, it may be that the departure really is best for both parties. Even if their leaving is going to create difficulties for the team, and even the organization. Use the notice period wisely and gather as much information as possible about the job from the departing employee. ✅ If cross-training is a practice at your organization, immediately have the cross-trained employee begin working with the departing employee. ✅ If this has not happened, attempt to find a temporary employee or a contractor to fill the immediate gap. ✅ Or divide the most critical tasks between co-workers, for the short-term. And let the resigning employee leave to be happy someplace else. Because everyone deserves to enjoy the work that they do, in a company with engaged employees and a great culture.
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The age-old problem of disengaged employees has been discussed everywhere recently.
But under a new name: “Quiet Quitting”. 🚩 𝙉𝙤𝙬, 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙪𝙥𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 “𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜”. Based on LinkedIn data, it states that employees are increasingly willing to walk away, after only months or even weeks at a new job. Not only limited to seasonal or ad hoc employees, but also to those working in more traditional, professional industries. Often due to an employer overselling or misrepresenting a job to candidates. ✅ And, although not mentioned in the article, by not having a robust onboarding program in place. An important practice that ensures new hires feel welcome and fully integrated into their new roles and organizations. Which, if missing, has traditionally also been a reason for new hires to leave a job quickly. 💠 Let’s cut to the chase. This article at least admits that “Quick Quitting” is not a new phenomenon. Which all “Quiet Quitting” articles have not. And their use of new, faddish terminology potentially perpetuates the myth that these age-old problems are newly emerging trends. Providing a smokescreen behind which leaders can hide, for issues that have, in fact, been around for years. Yes, maybe the new language catches people’s attention. But if perceived to be new problems, it is easier to hide behind the excuse of a solution not yet having been developed. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙝𝙖𝙨: 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨. Quite simply, before COVID, organizations could more easily ignore the signs of disengaged employees and toxic cultures. No more. Now, since people’s priorities have shifted, the days of living to work are gone. And employees are demanding changes to how they want work to be. Or they will not stay. A number of fundamental practices are critically important to having engaged employees and great cultures.
Feedback is one of those practices. Perhaps surprisingly, studies have shown that employees don’t only want praise when they’ve done well. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮’𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨. 💠 Because they want to perform well, and feedback helps them get there. Knowing how their daily work fits in the bigger picture, is also a core component of employee engagement. Obviously though, they can’t know how they’re doing if their managers aren’t communicating. So, first, ensure managers are providing feedback correctly. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣, 𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡. The days of the annual performance review are long gone, or should be. A yearly conversation between an employee and manager is next to useless. Because it can’t provide the culture of feedback that is so crucial to employee engagement. Instead, on-going performance conversations, incorporating both positive and constructive feedback should be the norm. ✅ Some companies follow an informal system, with the frequency of feedback left to the manager’s discretion. ✅ Others request that managers provide feedback monthly, and yet others require it on a quarterly basis. Of course, informal, in-the-moment feedback, when the employee is doing something well or less well, should always be a part of every culture. So, provide managers with the training and coaching they need, to provide both positive and constructive feedback frequently and correctly. It will result in higher levels of employee performance, which directly impacts business results. In the past, transparency in business was almost taboo.
The thinking went that the more opaque an organization’s operations, whether to the public or to its own employees, the better the chances of success. Of course, compared to 10 or 20 years ago, communication nowadays has changed beyond recognition: ✅ Breaking news spreads immediately – no waiting to read about today’s news tomorrow. ✅ Important life events are communicated over group texts. ✅ Details about our lives are shared internet-wide. ✅ Apps allow us to avoid uncomfortable conversations and go straight to splitting the cost of meals or rides. In short, more transparent, real-time communication has become the norm in our personal lives. Meaning it was only a question of time before it influenced communication at work. Because people are still people, whether at home or at work. 𝘼𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩, 𝙩𝙬𝙤-𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙖 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. Traditionally, most organizations have focused on a top-down, limited communication style. With a tendency toward ignoring or filtering upwardly flowing information. 💠 𝗔𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. Which does not mean that leaders must begin sharing every single detail. But, certainly, more than what most organizations may be used to communicating. Of course, if transparency is invited by leaders, the resulting dialogue must be taken seriously and treated with respect. So that employees feel safe sharing their ideas or concerns, knowing that there will be no negative repercussions. The following are some practices to keep in mind: 📌 Communicate promptly, and inform employees about big news first, or immediately after any public announcement. 📌 Be upfront about things that can’t be publicly discussed, but which people will have questions about, to avoid employees filling the void with rumors. 📌 Address potentially controversial topics proactively, instead of waiting for a reaction. 📌 Provide a system for handling employee questions and concerns, both the day-to-day and the more serious, and answer questions promptly and honestly, including reasons why. 📌 Solicit feedback regularly on what’s working and not and respond appropriately. 📌 Create a variety of communication channels: Message the CEO; employee-only work discussions; employee-only non-work conversations. When companies break down old walls and start engaging with employees, a new level of insight into the business is the result. Translating to greater connections, grounded in mutual trust. If, however, leaders continue to operate in the old way, they appear out of touch and lose credibility. And engagement and innovation suffer. It is now well-established that COVID caused employees to reflect and question whether the work they were doing was what they wanted to do long-term.
As they began searching for better treatment, better pay and benefits, more purpose, and more flexible schedules. Whereas, in the past, people were tied to local jobs, employees can now consider jobs with companies anywhere. Meaning there are more opportunities than before, being taken advantage of by employees. So, if employers don't want to lose great employees, retention should be top of mind. 💠 Not the mention that it’s the right thing to do. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢! Of course, being fairly compensated is a minimum requirement, and flexibility is certainly important to large numbers of employees. But these things by themselves are not enough to engage employees. Rather, it is critical to put the core, fundamental practices that drive engagement and improve culture in place, in the right order, such as: ✅ Recognition, ongoing feedback and career development opportunities. ✅ A job with purpose and meaning is also critical. ✅ Plus leaders who genuinely care, who are willing to hold people accountable, and make difficult decisions if necessary. In short, an organization with a great culture. Because, even as the Great Resignation slows, it’s still an employee’s market. And if their current employer is not providing all of the above, employees will find a company that will. One that has already realized that engaging employees and having a great culture is the core differentiator in today’s market. Career development opportunities are of paramount importance when it comes to engaging employees.
Which is critical if organizations want to have workplaces where people want to come and work, and stay: ✅ According to Gallup, 87% of millennials rated professional or career growth and development opportunities in the workplace as one of their top priorities. ✅ And a Bridge survey found that 86% of millennials would be kept from leaving their current position if training and development were offered by their employer. A core component of development programs, besides the obvious access to up-skilling classes and trainings, is mentorship programs. But it is important to establish and structure them correctly. The linked article talks about new research, that finds that mentorship programs can produce very valuable gains: 💠 An ROI of a whopping 870%, despite any administrative inefficiency and waste. At least on new hires at a US inbound call center, since this research was limited to that group. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙩. Although researchers are unsure whether this is because poor performers are insecure and shy about participating. Or, whether it’s the opposite, and it’s because they believe they don’t need help. It goes on to discuss the fact that companies can’t always offer mentoring organization-wide, due to limited resources. However, where possible, participation should be mandatory, since it can be difficult for companies to identify who needs mentoring. But there are some suggestions on deciding: 🚩 Analyze how new hires do in the first week or two on the job and aim their efforts at the weakest performers. 🚩 Run small-scale mentoring programs as an experiment, analyze participants’ performance and determine who is benefiting, and offer more-intensive mentoring to those individuals. 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 2021 𝙋𝙒𝘾 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙀𝙊 𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮, 28% 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙀𝙊𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 “𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙” 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨. Therefore, by providing learning and development opportunities, including mentorship programs, organizations are future proofing themselves in terms of required skillsets. In addition to providing one of the core components of having engaged employees and great cultures. The importance of people managers in engaging employees cannot be underestimated.
Especially in a post-COVID world, where employee expectations have shifted to wanting kind, caring leaders. Yet, while organizational leaders are critical, so too is the implementation of a number of fundamental practices that have been shown to drive engagement and improve culture. 🚩 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚’𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡. Because they are the person with the most impact on their direct reports’ day-to-day work and environment. Therefore, one of the most important practices, between a manager and their direct report, is their 1-on-1 meeting. Since they are the one thing that most help build a solid connection between the two. And truly allow them to get to know one another, on a more personal level. 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨. However, quite often, managers and direct reports are not making the most of these meetings. And they are often an unstructured, casual catch-up, covering little more than brief status updates. Frequently because no-one has shown the manager how to do it any differently. Instead, there are a number of rules to having successful 1-on-1s: ✅ They should reliably occur on a weekly, perhaps bi-weekly, but no farther apart than that. ✅ They should always be a priority, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 something that the manager regularly cancels or reschedules. ✅ They should be an expectation of the culture, and managers should be held accountable if they are not happening. ✅ They should be a focused conversation, with a set, employee-driven agenda. ✅ Coaching and development should be the main focus. ✅ Linking work to company goals and initiatives is also critical. Do not simply tell manager how important 1:1s are, and leave them to figure it out on their own. Instead, let them know specifically why, and arm them with the knowledge and tools necessary to successfully run them. So, start right now, by ensuring weekly, structured 1:1s between managers and employees. With these practices in place, not only will work be more meaningful and productive, but employees will feel like they have a manager, who cares about them. Going a long way towards them being engaged, and not wanting to leave. For organizations, losing even one good employee is expensive, not to mention the widespread ramifications.
𝘼𝙣𝙙, 𝙤𝙗𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩. 🚩According to Deloitte, the cost of losing one employee can range from tens of thousands of dollars to 1.5-2X their annual salary. So, even one person earning $100,000/year leaving, could cost an organization $150,000 to replace. If just five people earning that same amount leave, the numbers quickly add up. The costs take into account the direct replacement costs such as advertising or agency fees, and time spent interviewing, which are somewhat evident. But there are a number of indirect costs, which shouldn’t be forgotten, such as: ✅ Declines in productivity ✅ Increases in customer service issues ✅ Lowered knowledge base ✅ Morale and engagement problems Additionally, there is an increased risk of turnover. Because when someone leaves, it impacts everyone around them. 𝘼𝙣𝙙, 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙘𝙤-𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜. A fact reported by Adecco, in its recent Global Workforce of The Future 2022 report, which surveyed 34,200 employees across 25 countries: 🚩 Seeing co-workers quit, triggered 70% of colleagues to 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 quitting themselves, 🚩 50% 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 and decided to leave in the next 12 months. Therefore, organizations need to be aware that even just a few people quitting, could trigger others to leave. Even in organizations with engaged employees and a great culture. So, how do you keep employees from leaving, especially if the culture isn’t what it could be? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤-𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚. By committing to a new way of doing business, and implementing a set of fundamental practices shown to engage employees: 💠 Feedback, transparent communication, and development opportunities. 💠 The right person in every single seat. 💠 Caring leaders and meaningful work. A culture exists in every organization, whether it is planned or not. Must better that leaders be purposeful about it, and take the necessary steps to engage employees and cultivate a great culture. Otherwise, organizations are at risk of losing people, even those who might not initially have planned on quitting. |
AuthorNia is passionate about engaging employees and cultivating compassionate cultures, a win-win for both employers and employees. Archives
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