PEOPLE LEAVE MANAGERS, NOT JOBS

“How long an employee stays at a company and how productive she is there, is determined by her relationship with her immediate supervisor” - Gallop, March, 2000

“The No 1 reason people quit their jobs is dissatisfaction with their supervisors, not their paychecks” - Spherion and Lou Harris Associates 1999

An extensive Gallup Study undertaken in 2000 involving 2 million employees at 700 companies found that employees rate having a caring boss as more important than receiving compensation or fringe benefits, as reiterated in this New York Times article.

This confirmed findings by a 1999 Lou Harris Associates and Spherion study ‘Report on the Emerging Workforce Study’, that found 40 percent of employees who rated their supervisors poorly were likely to leave their company.

The overall message of these studies is simple – people leave managers, not jobs.

People may join companies because of reputation, but it’s their connection and relationship with their specific leader or line manager that creates an environment in which they want to stay, remain engaged and drive productivity.

The most critical element to retaining employees is therefore not the quality of the organisation but the quality of its immediate supervisors.

In the Lou Harris and Spherion study, 40% of the employees who rated their boss as ‘poor’ were thinking of leaving their job. In comparison, of the employees who liked their boss, only 11% were considering leaving.

So, as much as things like salary, work-life balance and challenging work are important to employees, there’s a direct link between the quality of the management style of the manager and whether staff decide to stay or leave – and further, for those who stay, whether they are productive and engaged or not!

In considering this, if you are a manager or team leader, it is important for you to ask the following questions:

What kind of manager are you?

Do your employees have a good relationship with you?

Do your employees trust you?

Do your employees like you?

Are your employees engaged and productive and if not, why not?

What will your staff say about you in years to come? What story will they tell?

If any of your answers to these questions suggest that your employees are unhappy with your leadership approach, then it is time to reconsider your management style. Managers can upgrade their management style by taking a “coach approach” with staff. This will build their relationship with employees and down the line, will develop an environment of trust. If leaders and managers want to grow their workplace influence and respect, it is essential (and I would add, urgent) to utilise the Coaching Conversation and coaching skills.

Leaders could start with building their skills as a coach through The Coaching Clinic or alternatively, begin an Executive Coaching Program where one of the goals would be building staff relationships through a ‘coach approach’. Contact Brave Leadership to find out more about how you can achieve maximum leadership results.