In this so-called Great Resignation, the battle to fill positions and retain good workers is a difficult reality.
Companies looking to hire employees are desperately looking for options, with millions of job openings and rising quit rates, according to Labor Department data.
Is it true that they are looking in the right places?
According to a recent Predictive Index survey of 2,000 employees, nearly half of them have considered changing careers in the last year.
And a whopping 63 percent of employees who have a bad boss are considering leaving in the next year.
It’s the Big Boss
The reason for so many people quitting has everything to do with their working relationships.
According to a 2018 Udemy study, nearly half of employees surveyed quit because of a bad boss, and nearly two-thirds thought their boss lacked proper management training.
Gallup CEO Jim Clifton summarized the bottom line of why your company’s employee turnover may be high in a single sentence in Gallup’s ongoing “State of the American Workplace” study:
The single most important decision you make at work — more important than any other — is who you name as your manager.
Nothing can undo a bad decision to name the wrong person as manager. Nothing in the way of remuneration or benefits.
Gallup came to this conclusion after analyzing decades of data and interviewing 25 million employees.
Yet, in the post-pandemic era, organizations continue to consider every reason to keep their employees, including increased pay, perks, flexible work options, and mental health resources, to name a few, without taking into account the manager’s role and impact on the employee.
People leave managers, not companies, as we’ve all heard before.
Among the many relationships that employees form at work, those formed with their manager have a greater impact on overall workplace experience than those formed with other coworkers.
More specifically, employees must feel as if they have a supportive and open communication channel with their managers, to the point where they feel comfortable discussing topics such as compensation and job security.
Management acknowledgement is critical, and it should be a top priority for companies looking to keep their employees and avoid the high costs and lost time associated with higher turnover.
Communication is number one.
As a leadership coach and trainer, I frequently tell my clients — those willing to put their egos aside and grow as leaders — that they must improve in three key areas:
Any good leader understands the importance of effective communication. The value of effective communication has skyrocketed in the hybrid workforce model.
It’s the No. 1 skill employees believe their manager lacks, according to the Predictive Index report. Furthermore, communication is the second most important skill that employees look for in a manager, after confidence.
- Mental well-being
According to Harvard Business School’s Amy C. Edmondson’s research on psychological safety, when leaders foster a culture of safety, where employees are free to speak up, experiment, give feedback, and ask for help, learning and performance outcomes improve. Fear exists when psychological safety is lacking.
And fear prevents a team from reaching its full potential. When we are afraid, we are unable to be engaged or innovative.
- Provide opportunities for advancement
It’s a well-known fact that employees with a career mindset prefer to work for managers who will assist them in furthering their careers.
Managers cannot expect their employees to stay at their company if they do not provide opportunities for learning, stretching, and growth, as well as opportunities for advancement.
Finally, no group has the ability to have a greater immediate and positive impact on employees than front-line managers.
Managers must relearn key mindsets and behaviors in order to lead their teams in the new workplace.
How to Deal with a Jealous Boss at WorkWhen businesses focus on providing managers with leadership skills such as relationship building, recognition, empathy, and social connection, the entire organization benefits from increased creativity, collaboration, and performance.
Video by CNBC
Inc News
