Vicki Shultz's Blog

What should you do when your best employees quit? How do you keep your team on track? Well, the first thing you should do is to immediately develop a hiring plan to replace the employee. Before you start hiring from the outside, you might want to see if you any of your current employees are ready to step up. Maybe one of them is just waiting for the chance to show you what he/she can do. Look at this as an opportunity for the remaining employees to take on new responsibilities and learn new things. But be careful not to overwork them.

When one of your top employees quit, don’t get too emotional. You have to remember that these employees don’t just work hard for your company. They are also working hard for themselves, which is why they want to look for the best opportunities possible so they can take the next step in their careers. You can’t possibly hold them back if they want to find out what they can do in the corporate world.

Try not to offer a counter. Counter offers rarely work. Don’t try to use money to keep an employee around longer than he wants. It’s inevitable that he is going to leave again. Maybe not now but in the next few months or so. Money isn’t always the reason why people leave their jobs, so it’s better if you just let your top employee go. Remember, money doesn’t always solve your problems in the workplace.

Of course, don’t burn bridges. It’s a small world after all. You’ll never know what the future holds. Maybe one day this employee will come back and work for you. Better yet, maybe the employee will refer other quality people he knows if he really likes your company. A nice way to part ways with an employee is to publicly acknowledge his departure and contributions to your company. Give him a farewell party. Prepare a speech. These little things can show what kind of boss you are.

As a business owner, you are going to see employees come and go. You should never be surprised when an employee wants to leave. There is a reason why these people are your top employees. They are ambitious. They want to do what is best for them so they will always strive and reach for the top. Once they feel that they are no longer growing, they will most likely move on.

The manager’s job is to be aware of what their people are feeling. Get to know what they want for their future. This way you can predict what they plan to do or even prevent them from leaving.

The post What Should You Do When Your Best Employees Quit? appeared first on Committed We Stand.

Knowing is half the battle. So if you know what makes an employee quit, then it will be easier to prevent, don’t you think?

There are many factors why people quit. It could be because of low pay, personal issues, lack of work-life balance, lack of growth, loss of faith in the management, and many more. Take your pick. Any of these can be the reason.

As a business owner, it is important that you know the mistakes that managers make that causes an employee to quit. Look for signs. The best way to retain your employees is to get to know them. Ask them questions. Mingle with them. Good managers pay attention to their employees. They don’t randomly make rules and throw their weight around.

There are actually many reasons why employees quit. Here are the most common ones:

Management doesn’t allow employees to make decisions. Introducing new policies without consulting their employees is a good example of this.
They overwork people. Look, nobody wants to work overtime all the time. Your employees have lives of their own. They are not robots.
Don’t recognize or reward good work. Try to find ways to make your employees feel good about what they have done.
Management doesn’t clarify goals and decisions. It’s like they do things on a whim.
Too many managers micromanage down to the finest detail. This can be annoying for employees. Most employees don’t want somebody constantly looking over their shoulders.
Management lacks people skills. We often see this. Yes, you have the technical skills, but you also need people skills to manage employees. Managers need to know how to lead others.
Toxic work environment. Nobody wants to work in a chaotic place with drama everywhere.
Employee feels undervalued, and raises and benefits are inadequate.
Management doesn’t honor their commitments. Not honoring commitments is a good way to lose the trust of your employees.
Management hires and promote the wrong people. Let’s face it, this is very common. Person A works her tail off while person B slacks off; however, person B gets a promotion because he is closer to the manager. How would you feel if you are person A?

 

To make the long story short, management should set a good example for your employees. If your managers are slackers, don’t expect your employees to feel too good if they are punished for doing the same thing. Managers may not be the sole reason for employees quitting; however, they hold the power to make an employee stay if they are only aware of it.

 

 

Photo credits

Photo taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/baratunde/4879330371

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As was mentioned in last week’s blog post, it is important that companies provide creative noncash incentives that help keep their employees happy while helping to further their professional development. So here are a few more examples of noncash incentives that can help you keep your best employees:

 

 

Career Path

This one is huge to those Ys coming in. In fact, career progression is very important for most employees. Therefore, it is important to establish clear and precise career paths for all personnel in your company and to ensure that each is made aware of the rewards and requirements. Nothing is worse than going to work every day with no direction or motivation, especially for young professionals who won’t have the skill set to create their own path. If your employees know exactly what must be done to get to where they want to go professionally and they have seen it work for other employees in the company, they will be more likely to stay with your company and to work hard while they are there.

In developing career paths for your employees, it is important that you consider all the options. In visualizing career paths, most people automatically think of vertical movement which is when an employee is promoted up the chain of command to a level of greater significance and more responsibility. Many employees are looking for that type of advancement, but in some cases, horizontal movement is a better option. Horizontal movement consists of an employee transferring to another position within the company that is equal in significance and responsibility to his or her current position but typically involves learning new technologies or processes. In other cases, the best move for an employee may be outside your company, which is sometimes called external movement. Given that option, you may be asking yourself how external movement could possibly help in reducing turnover for your company. There are other ways that the career path can be improved beyond simple vertical or horizontal movement.

Take, for instance, the case of a C-level executive who was contacted about a CIO opportunity by a recruiter who thought he might be interested. The executive informed them that his plan was to stay with his current company until retirement, but he insisted that his second-in-command might be a perfect fit. The executive knew that this employee had no chance of advancing his career in his current position, so he found an opportunity for that person externally. Even though the employee did not get the new position, the executive won this individual’s respect and loyalty by showing a genuine interest in his future. Such esoteric benefits are very difficult to quantify but have huge value when employee loyalty is in play. Managers should be encouraged to find ways to develop such loyalty in their direct reports.

 

Training

While most employees are interested in career advancement, they are also interested in expanding their knowledge base. Knowledge has always been power. Therefore, providing ongoing educational opportunities is a great way to encourage employees that your company is the best place for them. Whether you provide training opportunities which allow them to better do their current job or you pay for their formal education which will impact their performance in a future position, it is a win-win situation for both the employee and the company. The key here is that employees be able to use what they learned to improve the effectiveness of their job performance.

In addition to formal training and education, most employees enjoy being exposed to new technologies and procedures within the company. This is good for employees because they often get bored with repetition, and it is good for you as it broadens the employees’ level of value to the company.

As you can see, there are many noncash options from which to choose when developing a plan for retaining your employees. So while the cost of losing those young professionals is huge, the cost of retaining them may not only be less but incredibly less.

The post Noncash Incentives (Continuation) appeared first on Committed We Stand.

Working at home

As a business owner, you should know that one of the easiest way to motivate your employees is to give out noncash incentives. In fact, research shows that noncash incentives are stronger motivators than cash incentives. So which rewards can you give to motivate such a diverse group of employees from different generations? Here are some of them:

 

Communication

Most employees do not like surprises, and they don’t care to hear major news which might affect them via the company newsletter or the company rumor mill. For this reason, it is important that you keep your employees informed of what’s going on within the company. You can take this concept one step further and actually ask for your employees’ input and ideas on upcoming projects, being sure to follow up later and let them know whether or not you have opted to use their ideas and why. It is also important that you let your individual team members know how they are doing as employees. It is not enough to discuss their performance in an annual review. As questions or problems arise, address them with the employee directly and immediately. This will keep any small nuisance from becoming a major disaster.

 

Demonstrative Appreciation

At some point or another, every one of us needs to be told we are doing a good job. Your employees are no different. As managers, we often use encouraging words to make our new employees feel welcome, but often we forget that our long-term employees need affirmation as well. Flattery is great, and it’s free. In addition to kind words, you can also show your appreciation with occasional gift cards to an employee’s favorite restaurant or tickets to a new show in town. Just keep in mind that if employees go long enough without knowing they are valued, they could start looking elsewhere for assurance.

 

Flexible Scheduling

Our older managers are quite married to the traditional eight-to-five routines, but in recent years, flexible scheduling has become a very popular way to retain employees. Some companies will require employees to work a certain number of hours in a week but allow the employee to choose the exact times. Other companies will allow their employees to work ten-hour days Monday through Thursday in exchange for Fridays off. Many companies will simply implement the policy of flextime, meaning that employees can exchange overtime one day for time off another. Any way you put it, flexible scheduling gives employees more quality time with friends and family which leads to greater happiness, and ultimately, happy people make better employees.

 

Telecommuting

In addition to flex scheduling, many companies today allow employees to telecommute. This helps cut down on the amount of time employees must spend in their cars each day. With the rising price of gasoline and the realization that long commutes are the number one reason for resignations, this strategy alone could prevent many employees from leaving your company. Check into the potential tax benefits for your company here.

 

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More examples of noncash incentives will follow on my next blog post.

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Employees are the most important assets a company could have. It is imperative that business owners develop and continue to coach them so they can improve their work performances. So which employee is the most likely to improve? Which one is the most coachable?

Let us arrange the employees in the workplace into three categories so we can gage their performance. The first group will be your best or top performers, the next will be the middle performers who are productive and doing okay, and lastly, the low performers who tend to slack off and get the least work done.

Let me share something interesting with you. Do you know that middle performers are usually the ones who get the least attention from the management? That’s right. It’s ironic that low performers seems to get a lot of attention, but middle performers receive much less. Middle performers are expected to just do their jobs and do it well enough because they are seen as self-sufficient enough not to screw up. However, unlike low performers (generally), there is a chance that middle performers can become top performers or at least near-top performers. But their full potential is not being tapped for the benefit of the company.

Investing in the development of these middle performers would be the wisest thing you can do if you want to improve your business output. These employees may be average right now, but with the proper coaching and motivation they can pump your company’s performance curve upward.

Are you tapping into the full potential of your employees? If not, you should be doing it right now.

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This is an excerpt from Committed We Stand

 

How can we do a better job of retaining employees—especially our most valuable ones?

 

First, rank your employees in three categories: best performers, middle performers, and lowest performers. Your objective is to retain your top performers; develop and retain your middle performers, turning them into near-top or top performers if possible; and potentially replace your lowest performers. Second, agree internally on the measures you’ll use to calculate turnover costs. Be certain you’re taking all costs into consideration. Most organizations greatly underestimate them. Third, report turnover costs to top management on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. When turnover costs are unacceptably high, or higher than your industry’s average, do an assessment. Find out who is leaving and why they’re leaving. Exit interviews can help you find out why.

 

You need to know if it is your top, middle, or lowest performers who are leaving so you can gauge the expertise level leaving your organization. You’re obviously going to employ (and pay for) different strategies if your top performers are voluntarily leaving, compared to middle or lowest level performers.

Develop solutions capable of solving the problems you uncover, and only implement a limited number of them. Measure the success of your retention efforts, and refine them. In developing an effective retention strategy, you don’t necessarily have to include both monetary rewards and noncash incentives. While monetary reward cost the company immediate expense, it is typically minimal in comparison to the burden of hiring a new employee. However, there are many, many non-cash alternatives that may be even more effective.

 

Employees today put great emphasis in both their overall quality of life and their career progression. Therefore, it is important that companies provide creative non-cash incentives that help keep their employees happy while helping to further their professional development.

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As an employer, the policies you decide to enforce or ignore says a lot about the culture of your company. Would you reward an employee for doing something but, at the same time, ignore another when they do the same thing? Do you punish an employee for failing to do his work, while you allow a favorite of yours to slack off? If this is something you do as an employer, then it’s time to change. Consistency builds credibility. And you will need to be consistent if you want to gain the trust of your employees.

Nothing undermines truth like inconsistent treatment does, for any reason. If you treat one employee, a group of employees, or a client differently from others, they all have to ask themselves if they are being dealt with honestly. Even good reasons for distinguishing treatment can have bad effects.

Even a single instance of inconsistency can have a significant impact on how your employees view your company. As an employer, consistency is extremely important. Consistency can help you build the trust you need to have to get employees to commit to your business. If you are inconsistent in enforcing your policies, your employees will begin to doubt your trustworthiness. Once you lose that trust, it’s going to be very difficult to regain it.

Remember, consistency breeds credibility. When employees are not sure about the rules, you set up your company for a lot of unnecessary drama. When you are consistent, your employees will learn to trust you and follow your lead.

Whether you are dealing with your employees or your customers, you must do what you have promised if you expect a loyal, committed response.

The post Consistency: That Which You Have Promised, You Must Perform appeared first on Committed We Stand.

I think it’s safe to assume that you have heard of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Let’s face it; the Golden Rule is not exactly the remedy that fixes everything. It implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated the way that you would like to be treated. But there is an alternative to the Golden Rule. That is the Platinum Rule, “Treat others the way they want to be treated.” Now, doesn’t that sound better? Do unto others as they would have you do unto them, not as you would have them do unto you. The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others, and it shifts the focus of the relationship from “This is what I want, so I’ll give everyone the same thing” to “Let me first understand what they want, and then I’ll give it to them.”

 

In the corporate world, following the Golden Rule is not always ideal. Luckily, we have the Platinum Rule, which requires employers to take that extra step and place their imaginary selves into the employee’s or client’s position and determine how they would like to be treated. When we do that, the landscape suddenly changes. You will get to understand the fact that not everyone wants to be treated the same way—that employees have wants and needs different from those of employers.

 

The ability to create rapport with your employees is very important if you want them to commit themselves to your company. Companies nowadays are suffering from a lack of commitment from their employees. However, if companies offer no commitment to their employees, they will get no commitment in return.

All the time, the bottom line bleeds with the cost of attracting, hiring, and training new young professionals, only to lose them and have to start over. We can choose to intervene. We can retain those young people we train rather than allow our competitors to take advantage of all we invested in them.

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This is an excerpt from Committed We Stand

 

Commitment by one party without commitment of the other party to the agreement will most likely result in failure. To succeed, commitment has to be reciprocal, and—here’s the most important part—it has to start on the company’s side! You read that right. Whether you’re looking for commitment from your customers or your employees, you have to start the ball rolling.

 

Once you’ve made your commitment to the employees or customers, you must ask them to make their own commitments to your company in return. Only reciprocal commitment will make the difference.

 

There are many ways to do this. With customers, loyalty programs are a great option. Lots of companies employ this process. It doesn’t seem like much; for example, when your local grocery store tells you that if you fill out a rewards card of some sort, you will get future discounts or bonuses. Lots of people (me included) are willing to do that. And what we’re really doing is letting that grocer keep track of our spending habits, so he or she can target us through coupons and e-mail ads for products we frequently buy.

 

In a company, employee loyalty begins with open lines of communication. For small to midsized companies, where decisions are sometimes—if not always—made only verbally, the most critical skills you can employ are the abilities to listen well and speak clearly.

 

Commitment has to be reciprocal, and it has to start on the company side. Employees won’t be able to make commitments first. After the company makes some commitments, it must require the employees to make a reciprocal commitment. A one-sided contract isn’t an agreement; it is a commandment. Both sides have to commit.

 

So, how would employees respond to a show of commitment from the employer? Check out Committed We Stand if you want to know more about workplace commitment and how to stop your best new talents from walking away.

 

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Perception Is Reality

If both the employees’ and the management’s expectations do not meet, chances are there is a high rate of employee turnover in your company. The management and the employees must see eye to eye. Otherwise, your employees will no longer feel committed to their work. You wouldn’t want that, would you?

Uncommitted employees are unproductive employees; unproductive employees negatively affect your bottom line. What does a committed employee look like? And what does it take to move an employee from involvement to commitment?

Things are more complicated in reality than they appear. The management will need to close the gap between their expectations and that of your employees. You will need to know what your employees want and expect from you and vice versa. Employees who don’t know what their manager expects of them can’t be engaged in the workplace. They will no longer feel committed to their work. They will still come to work but will no longer be committed. They are simply involved employees. The expectations of both sides must be understood and must meet.

The management needs to set clear and realistic goals and to communicate these goals to the employees. You must never assume that your employees are aware of these goals.

Employees must also be encouraged to voice out their concerns. How would employers know what their employees want if there is no proper communication? Have regular conversations with your employees. This is a great way to know how well your employees are doing.

Uncommitted employees are unproductive, which directly affects the bottom line. How do you think it’s affecting yours?

To learn more, check out Committed We Stand.

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