Dear Madeleine,

I manage a massive sales function for a software company. I am so exhausted from all my people quitting! What is going on? At the end of the Q1, FOUR of my managers quit. And a month ago, my right-hand person, who followed me from our last company, submitted her resignation. At least she gave me a month to replace her and train someone new.

We always expect a little attrition at vesting periods, but I have never seen anything like this. It isn’t like our quotas are going to change, so everyone else is overburdened. The regional VPs can’t keep up with onboarding and training all of the new hires. Our recruiters are bringing us fewer viable candidates and the viable ones are demanding starting salaries that are more than what I make! I’ve been doing this a long time but have never felt so exposed.

 I don’t know what to do. I just feel—

Panicked

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Panicked,

I am hearing the same thing from my clients and we have experienced the same thing in our company. One client recently reported that a candidate for an executive assistant position demanded $300K as a starting salary. He literally did a spit take at that. That is an extreme example of how people are aiming high and also illustrates the point that unemployment is at an all-time low.

What is going on? Well, the collective wisdom is that the world grinding to a halt, the fear of imminent death during the height of the pandemic, and the massive changes in the workplace have sparked a collective re-evaluation of how we all spend our time and resources.

People are asking themselves:

• What is really important to me—and does what I am doing right now reflect those things?
• What are my long-term goals—and am I going to be able to achieve them where I am now?
• Do I really love my job? Or have I let myself get complacent?

And why wouldn’t people ask these things, given all that we have been through? There is nothing like a deadly virus that makes a trip to the grocery store feel like a commando maneuver—or, far worse, losing a loved one—to starkly accentuate the reality that we only get one shot at this life so we’d better make the most of it. Seen in that light, the phenomenon you are currently struggling with does make sense.

What can you do? As a senior leader, a lot. The first step is to actively strive to re-engage your people. Find out what makes them tick and show them you care. You can get more detail on how to do that in this wonderful article: 8 Keys to Re-engaging a Fatigued Workforce.

Another idea is to task all of your VPs with having stay conversations. A review of exit interviews conducted before the pandemic revealed that a common answer to the question “Why are you leaving?” is “Nobody asked me to stay.” If employees don’t see and hear evidence that their boss and their company value them and want them to stay with the organization, they will assume their leaving won’t be a problem for anyone. This is just human nature: in the absence of information, people will make things up. The antidote is to have bosses literally ask their employees to stay and ask for insight into what will make that likely.

Our own research on employee work passion shows that people are as motivated by meaningful work, appreciation, and connectedness to colleagues and the organization as they are by money. So you can:

• help your people understand the value and meaning of their work,
• make sure they feel seen and heard as actual humans, and
• actively build ways for them to feel more connected to each other and the company.

More detail on stay conversations can be found here.

In terms of attracting viable candidates, again, money is not the only thing that matters. Make sure your recruiters are emphasizing every potential benefit of joining your company—flexible WFH options, career paths, the quality of your leadership—anything you can think of that makes your company special.

Action is the best antidote for the kind of anxiety you have. You can get the ball rolling by having stay conversations with your VPs to demonstrate what a good job looks like. Start today. No time to lose.

So, take a deep breath, make your plan, and get going. It will make a difference. I promise.

Love, Madeleine

About Madeleine

Madeleine Homan Blanchard is a master certified coach, author, speaker, and cofounder of Blanchard Coaching Services. Madeleine’s Advice for the Well Intentioned Manager is a regular Saturday feature for a very select group: well intentioned managers. Leadership is hard—and the more you care, the harder it gets. Join us here each week for insight, resources, and conversation.

Got a question for Madeleine? Email Madeleine and look for your response soon. Please be advised that although she will do her best, Madeleine cannot respond to each letter personally. Letters will be edited for clarity and length.

The best way to reduce turnover and increase engagement is to make sure managers set aside time once or twice each month for employee-directed one-on-one meetings. In these meetings, the manager sets the time but the employee sets the agenda.

Your role as manager is to simply show up and ask questions such as “How’s it going?” or “What’s on your mind?”  Then—this is important—fight the urge to talk. Instead, simply listen. That’s it! (For more on listening, check out the blog post 3 Reminders on How “Just Listening” Is Sometimes the Best Approach by Joanne Maynard.)

A Case Study from a High Turnover Industry

At The Ken Blanchard Companies, we know that listening to your people can make a critical difference.  We were once called upon to help a fast food chain in Southern California with a problem prevalent in the quick service industry—high turnover.

This restaurant chain’s turnover rate hovered close to 100 percent—with one glaring exception. The rate at one location was found to be significantly lower than that of all the other stores.

In talking to the manager of the exceptional store, we learned that he ran his store in exactly the same way as all the other managers except for one thing: this manager met with each of his employees for a few minutes every week to see how they were doing.  He encouraged each worker to talk about how things were at the store, what was going on at home, or how they were doing at school—whatever happened to be on their mind at the time. Except for these casual meetings, every procedure at this location was identical to those at other stores in the chain.

When asked why he conducted these one-on-one meetings, the manager said, “I figure if my workers know that I really care about them as individuals, they’ll be less likely to go down the street for a new job just because it might pay a little more.”

This really intrigued Dr. Margie Blanchard, cofounder of our company.  She wondered if weekly one-on-one meetings could really make that much of a difference.

To find out, she conducted a test with 20 Blanchard managers.  She asked every manager to meet with each of their direct reports for 20 to 30 minutes at least every other week.  She specified that the direct report set the agenda and decide what to talk about during their time with the manager.

At the end of six months, Margie separately interviewed three different groups—the managers who had set up the meetings; the department heads who had ensured all the managers participated; and the direct reports who had guided the discussions—to get their feedback on the process.

Several managers told Margie that at first they were disappointed in their abilities as a manager. When their employees had questions or asked for direction, they felt ineffective when they couldn’t immediately fix a problem. One of the managers said, “I don’t know what I was doing before, but I don’t think I was managing very well. I believe I’m a better manager now because I know the people on my team on a more personal level.”

Next, Margie asked the department heads if they had noticed any changes in the relationship between managers and direct reports. All of them said yes—there had been a noticeable positive difference in the level of communication taking place.  There was a better overall vibe.

Finally, Margie talked to the direct reports. This group had the most telling feedback, summed up by one person: “It’s been good. My manager doesn’t always know the answers, but I still appreciate that she takes the time to ask about what’s going on in my world. It’s been a very positive experience and has helped our work relationship.”

We Spend Time on What We Care About

You don’t need to have all the answers to create a connection—just make the time once or twice a month to sit down and find out what people are thinking about.  It’ll make a big difference! Consider how much it means to you when someone shows an interest in what is happening in your life.

In a busy world, the way you spend your time reveals what is important to you. People stay with managers and organizations that care about them.  Ask your managers to help you demonstrate that care.

“The number of job transitions is only increasing, so high potential people are looking for opportunities to grow and develop. Organizations that don’t address this need are in for a rude awakening,” says Michael Ownbey, director of client engagement for The Ken Blanchard Companies. “People will go where they have an opportunity to advance themselves and where they feel valued. Companies that are unable to offer advanced training to a large percentage of their workforce are going to find themselves at a disadvantage in attracting and retaining top talent.”

For organizations looking to make the shift, Ownbey suggests two different approaches depending on company size.

For companies that have the infrastructure and instructional design talent to support it, Ownbey suggests identifying high potentials and creating opportunities for them to access leadership development programs. For companies with less extensive resources, the key is to look for the right partner: an organization that can tailor a virtual training solution that will meet your needs as well as the needs of your learners.

In either case, Ownbey recommends taking action now. High achievers are not waiting patiently for you to provide growth opportunities. Today’s companies need to find a way to create scalable leadership training for a larger portion of their employee population.

As Ownbey explains, “In the past, companies would train only a small number of people so they could justify travel, time, and resource costs. But now, organizations are asking ‘How can we reach out to people who are taking on a new role or needing skill building around leadership? How can we affordably get them into high level learning and then into continuing education as they grow in their position?’”

What are you doing to identify and provide training opportunities for your high potential people?  Don’t wait until it’s too late and they’ve moved on to another company with better opportunities for growth and advancement. Get started today!

You can read more about Ownbey’s ideas for creating learning opportunities for a next generation of leaders by reading Leadership Development: Creating a Scalable Solution at the Blanchard website.  Also learn about a free webinar Ownbey is conducting on August 26, where he will share case studies of top companies that are meeting this need by designing flexible online learning curriculums that provide opportunities for leaders at all levels to advance their skills.

Dear Madeleine,

I manage a fairly large team of supervisors. The days are long and hectic but I have a good flow going with the group. 

Recently, though, it has become clear that one of my best people—the person I am grooming to take my job, as I am up for a promotion—is looking for another job.  I know this because her coworkers and one of her direct reports have overheard her talking on the phone, and she has been taking long breaks in the middle of the day with no explanation.

I guess I wouldn’t mind so much, but she is not discussing it with me. I always thought we had an open relationship—in fact, we have often talked about her career and how I can help her to develop.  I also wish she were being more discreet.  I feel kind of mad about the whole thing and don’t know how to proceed.  Thoughts?     —Kind of Mad

Dear Kind of Mad,

I don’t blame you for being mad. It sounds as though you’ve gone the extra mile for this employee and she’s now going behind your back—and it doesn’t feel good.  But this isn’t really about you. Your best bet is to continue being as open as you always have been.

Set up a meeting and tell your employee what you have heard and what you are thinking and feeling.  She must have her reasons for looking for another job, and it is up to you to create a safe environment so she can help you understand what they are.  The best way to do this is to ask an open ended question and then stay quiet long enough for her to answer it.  Examples of questions that might feel right:

“What is going on that makes you want to leave?”

“What is missing for you in your current job?”

“Is there something I should know that I have been missing?”

Stay quiet for as long as it takes – the less you talk, the more your employee will talk. Don’t argue or judge, simply seek to understand. You may find out she is really upset and frustrated with something in her current situation, or you may find that her job search has nothing to do with that.  Either way, the only way to find out is to ask—and, again, don’t judge.

It is an accepted wisdom that many employees leave jobs because no one asked them to stay. You can certainly do that if it makes sense.  If it doesn’t—and it is, in fact, time for her to go—you can certainly offer to provide an excellent reference.  And then you can ask her to be more discreet.

Consider this a good wakeup call. You can leverage it by reviewing who your best folks are and crafting a plan to retain them.  One good tool is the stay interview—a regular conversation you have with each of your high performers to assess their engagement and job satisfaction and what you might be able to do to make staying with the job continually attractive to them.  To be ultra-prepared, it might serve you to understand more about motivation. Susan Fowler has literally written the book on the topic, and here is an excellent white paper to get you started.

So don’t get mad, get smarter about retention!  Good luck.

About the author

Madeleine Homan-Blanchard is a master certified coach, author, speaker, and cofounder of Blanchard Coaching Services. Madeleine’s Advice for the Well Intentioned Manager is a regular Saturday feature for a very select group: well intentioned managers. Leadership is hard—and the more you care, the harder it gets. Join us here each week for insight, resources, and conversation.

Got a question for Madeleine? Email Madeleine and look for your response here next week!

In exploring the importance of various drivers of Millennial engagement and retention, Quantum researchers found that Professional Growth and Career Development came in at number one. They observed: “If young employees aren’t having their needs for professional development met, they will seek opportunities elsewhere.”

Clearly, the ability to grow in both their job and career is a necessity for workers ages 18 through 34. But current data shows that employers are not meeting this need effectively. More than 60 percent of Millennials leave their companies within three years of arriving, according to data from a 2013 Cost of Millennial Retention Study.

Gaps in Career Conversations

Research conducted by The Ken Blanchard Companies points out an opportunity for employers to address this need. Blanchard teamed up with Training magazine to poll a cross section of 456 human resources and talent management professionals. The study found gaps of 29 and 39 percent between how often employees had career conversations with their leaders versus how often they desired these conversations.

When it came to job development conversations, the survey found a 29 percent gap when respondents were asked to evaluate: (1) the frequency with which their leader discusses job assignments that would help to broaden their job experience and knowledge; (2) how often their leader discusses the training needed to improve their performance during the current performance period; and (3) whether the leader makes time and resources available to help the employee get the training they need.

When it came to career development conversations, the survey found an even larger (39 percent) gap when respondents were asked to evaluate the degree to which their boss: (1) understands the steps that must be taken to prepare them for career advancement; (2) explains organization policies and procedures that impact career development; and (3) discusses potential career opportunities.

The Senior Leader’s Role

Leaders at all levels have an important role to play in making sure that career development conversations are occurring. For senior leaders, that means setting the strategy. In their article How to Quell Millennial Discontent consultants at talent mobility firm Lee Hecht Harrison recommend six starting strategies for senior leaders:

1. Engage Millennials in effective career development conversations. Ask managers to work with Millennials to develop career options within the organization that will help satisfy their career aspirations.
2. Hold managers accountable for building and developing Millennial talent. Formally include the task of developing Millennials among managerial accountabilities.
3. Use career planning and development to prepare Millennials for new roles. Offer them role hopping as an alternative to job hopping.
4. Help Millennials manage their careers actively. All too often, Millennials regard managing their own careers as a simple matter of seeking jobs elsewhere. Channel their energies toward developing their careers internally by providing opportunities for them to work on cross-functional teams or lead key projects that enhance their visibility.
5. Involve Millennials in the creation of a coaching culture. Coaching others grooms Millennials for leadership, helps them build relationships with fellow employees, and deepens their investment in the organization.
6. Promote internal networking to further help Millennials increase their visibility and build relationships. Ask managers to stand ready to make introductions, involve Millennials in larger projects, and ensure that their achievements are recognized at higher levels.

Don’t let your best and brightest young talent leave the organization because no one took the time to discuss career options with them. Make career development a key part of every manager’s conversational skill set. Help your managers see the importance of conducting stay interviews today to avoid exit interviews tomorrow. You’ll be surprised at the impact career conversations can have!

1. I am not really here. (Well, maybe my body is, but my mind is elsewhere.)
2. I am being paid to be here. (And if I wasn’t being paid—or receiving some other type of reward—I wouldn’t be here.)
3. I have to be here; I’d be afraid of what might happen if I wasn’t.
4. Being here aligns with my values and will help me and my organization reach important goals.
5. Being here resonates with me; I feel it could make an important difference to others in my organization and/or help me fulfill a meaningful purpose.
6. I am inherently interested in being here; it is fun for me.

A quick survey found that people were attending for a variety of reasons including all six of the possible choices above. Fowler went on to explain that the first three choices were all “Sub Optimal” motivational outlooks that generated poor results. She also shared that outlooks 4, 5 and 6 were the “Optimal” motivational outlooks that most closely correlated with intentions to perform at a high level, apply discretionary effort, and be a good corporate citizen.

What motivates you?

What’s motivating you on your tasks at work?  Is it a “carrot” (External #2) or a “stick” (Imposed #3) approach?  If so, what’s the impact been on your motivation and performance?  Chances are that you’re not performing at your best.  Even worse, you could find yourself feeling somewhat manipulated and controlled, which rarely brings out the best in people.

For better results, think about what it might mean to employ a more Aligned, Integrated, or Inherent approach.  Find ways to connect the dots for yourself to create a more intrinsically satisfying strategy.

3 ways to enhance motivation

Fowler suggests beginning by evaluating the quality of A-R-C in your life.  Looking back at over 40 years of motivation research, Fowler shared that the answer to creating a more motivating environment is a combination of increased Autonomy (control of your experiences), Relatedness (working together with others), and Competence (developing and refining new skills).  The good news is that anyone can change their motivational outlook with some self-awareness and self-regulation.

Could you use a little more motivation in your life?   Most of us could.  To find out more about Fowler’s thinking on motivation and bringing out the best in yourself and others, be sure to check out Fowler’s free, on-demand webinar recording, A Closer Look at the New Science of Motivation.  You’ll discover some of the common mistakes people make when it comes to motivation and what you can do to improve your outlook.  Recorded on October 3 for an audience of 700 participants, the download is free, courtesy of Cisco WebEx and The Ken Blanchard Companies.

Now, let me be clear that the job of taking ice cream orders really is pretty easy. But imagine being new at the task of scooping rock-hard ice cream into cones without breaking them, or remembering the difference between a shake and a malt—let alone knowing where the heck to find all 31 flavors in the case. It took a bit of time to memorize all of this information.  Then imagine the store full of people on a hot day or after a sporting event, and you have mayhem!

One night during that learning period stands out in particular—not necessarily because of the reasons stated above, but more because of how my manager made me feel during one of those crazy, busy times.

A man came into the store with his daughter, a girl I had met before who went to a rival high school.  She and I said “hi” as I began to help her dad with his order.  He was a very direct sort of guy and started rambling off his order, getting frustrated if I asked him to repeat things along the way.  The last item on his list was a quart of French vanilla ice cream.

After making sure he had everything he needed, I went to the cash register to ring up his order.  Just as I totaled it up, I realized I had charged him for a quart of regular vanilla ice cream instead of French vanilla, which was more expensive.  I immediately called over the manager on duty to help me, since I didn’t know how to delete an order and start over.  As she came over, the man started yelling at me and calling me names because I had made a mistake and was taking too long.  As I was apologizing to him and doing my best not to cry (although my eyes were not cooperating), my manager did the most amazing thing.  She turned to the man and very politely told him that this was my first week on the job, I was still in training, and there is a lot to learn when first starting.  She went on to say it was a very innocent mistake and would be taken care of quickly, but there was no need for him to yell at me.

Even though her words didn’t stop my tears from coming, it was so reassuring to hear her stick up for me.  I actually felt sorry for his daughter—she was so embarrassed by his obnoxious behavior that she put her head down halfway through his order. As they were leaving, she just walked away with a glance at me as if to say, “I am so sorry!”

A lesson for leaders

What my manager did for me that night, and throughout the rest of my training period there, is a great lesson for all leaders.  Without realizing it then, I learned three valuable tips to help leaders build the skills, as well as the confidence, of an employee in training:

1.  Never reprimand a learner.

2.  Let the employee know it’s okay to make mistakes—that you “have their back.”

3.  Praise progress.

My manager showed me she believed in me when she stood up for me at a moment when I really needed it.  She knew the importance of both the external customer and the internal customer.  Her belief in me and willingness to work with me through that interaction with a difficult customer really strengthened our relationship and made me want to work harder for her.

Maybe the customer isn’t always right, but they still are your customer. My manager was a great role model that night for how to treat both external and internal customers with respect.

About the author:

Kathy Cuff is one of the principal authors—together  with Vicki Halsey—of The Ken Blanchard Companies’ Legendary Service training program.  Their customer service focused posts appear on the first and third Thursday of each month.

Here’s what people said attracts them to an organization and what would cause them to leave.

Adapted from Top Five  Global Drivers of Attraction, Retention and Sustainable Engagement           Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study At A Glance

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The study also looks at the factors that create an engaging work environment.  It’s interesting to note that Towers Watson has expanded their definition of employee engagement—which they are calling “sustainable engagement”—to include enablement (having the tools, resources and support to do their job effectively), as well as energy (which means a work environment that actively supports employees’ well-being.)

Overall, the study showed that:

• Only 35% of workers rate high in all three areas and are engaged, energized and enabled.
• 22% are classified as unsupported, meaning they display traditional engagement, but lack the enablement and/or energy required for sustainable engagement.
• 17% are detached, meaning they feel enabled and/or energized, but are not willing to go the extra mile.
• 26% are completely disengaged, with less favorable scores for all three aspects of sustainable engagement.

Wondering where to get started in addressing some of these factors in your organization? 

Abhishek Mittal, a senior consultant with Towers Watson in Singapore shares some possibilities for specifically addressing the enablement aspect of sustainable engagement in a separate, but related article, Building a Sustainable Engagement Strategy.

In the article, published late last year, he describes a Towers Watson study with a large Asian bank that identified:

“The analysis of over 300 branches found that the direct manager has a large impact on ‘enabling’ employees. When we look at branches where employees are more satisfied with their managers on a range of parameters, the employees tend to feel much more well-supported or enabled to deliver in their roles. Their perceptions about work resources, tools, condition and work organisation are much stronger than other branches. In turn, branches with more “enabled” employees clearly have a higher percentage of engaged customers. And, we saw clear links between engaged customers and higher target achievement on branch-level operating profits.”

To read more about the two studies, check out Building a Sustainable Engagement Strategy or 2012 Global Workforce Study: A Quick Glance

As reported in (2005) The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave by Leigh Branham, page 21, Figure 3.1

Yes, compensation was a factor in 12% of the cases, but look at some of the other issues that drove people away—growth, meaningful work, supervisor skills, workload balance, fairness, and recognition—to name a few.

What type of environment are you providing for your people?

Author, speaker, and consultant Leigh Branham, who partnered with PwC to analyze the results of the study identifies that trust, hope, worth, and competence are at the core of most voluntary separations.  When employees are not getting their needs met in these key areas, they begin to look elsewhere.

Wondering how your company would stack up in these areas? Here are a couple of questions to ask yourself.  How would your people respond if they were asked to rate their work environment  in each of the following areas?

• I am able to grow and develop my skills on the job and through training.
• I have opportunities for advancement or career progress leading to higher earnings.
• My job makes good use of my talents and is challenging.
• I receive the necessary training to perform my job capably.
• I can see the end results of my work.
• I receive regular feedback on my performance.
• I’m confident that if I work hard, do my best, demonstrate commitment, and make meaningful contributions, I will be recognized and rewarded accordingly.

Don’t wait until it’s too late

Better compensation is only a part of the reason why people leave an organization.  In most cases it is a symptom of a more complex need that people have to work for an organization that is fair, trustworthy, and deserving of an individual’s best efforts.  Don’t take your people for granted.  While you may not be able to provide the pay increases you were able to in the past, there is nothing stopping you from showing that you care for your people, are interested in their long term development, and are committed to their careers.

My wife has started a new job recently.  Like many people, it involves working in a cubicle interacting with customers primarily by telephone or email.  Even though she works in a large office setting, she is by herself for the most part and doesn’t see her boss in person very often except for a short weekly meeting. Most of their conversation between those times is via email only.

A recent customer issue she was working on was something new she hadn’t done before.  She did her best to figure it out but couldn’t come up with a solution that satisfied the customer.  In the end, the customer spoke those dreaded words, “Can I speak with your manager?”  Maybe that was best, my wife thought to herself, and so she transferred the call to her manager’s voice mail.  She also sent her boss an email documenting some of the supporting information.  Maybe her boss would have some additional resources or ideas on how to handle the situation.

The next morning my wife had an email waiting for her from her manager.  Her manager had sent the customer issue back to my wife with the reply, “Didn’t you see the recent company memo regarding the procedure for escalating customer service calls?”

A pretty standard (if slightly cryptic) type of response that goes out from bosses thousands of times each work day.  A simple reminder to review some earlier policy memo detailing the steps for handling situations like this.

Off to the races

“What did this mean?” my wife thought to herself. “What was her manager trying to say?”  She had seen the memo and it described how to evaluate and escalate calls to supervisors when necessary.  She felt she had followed the procedure.  She reread the memo, looking for details she might have missed.

By the time she talked to me about it that evening after work, the issue had escalated in her mind.  “Why do they make this so hard?” she asked me.  “Can’t they see I’m just trying to help the customer?”

“Maybe I’m not a good fit for this company,” she finally told me.  “This just isn’t the way that I work.”

The solution

“Have you talked to your manager?” I asked.

“I sent her a second email, but I haven’t heard back yet.”

“Okay, let’s wait and see what she says before we get too far ahead of ourselves,” I responded.  “Give me a call when you find out.”

I never did get that call, so at dinner that night I asked how it was going.

“Oh, that’s all set,” my wife replied.  “My manager stopped by and we talked about it.”

Managing By Wandering Around

Time is a precious commodity at work these days.  Everyone has a lot on their plate.  Still, managers can do a lot of good for their organizations by occasionally getting out of their offices for a little stroll.  In addition to regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings, check in with the people who report to you at least one other time each week by stopping by their desk, checking in with them via telephone, or just making yourself accessible.

Don’t let small things blow up into big things.  Nip them in the bud and make it easy for people to get back to work. It will make your company more productive and it will increase your connection with your people too!

She’s been struggling to learn all of the different components of the new role and she hit a low point this past Wednesday.  With the training coming to an end, she felt she had only mastered 40% of the required skills.  As a result, she was thinking of turning down the advancement and asking to remain in her previous role.  Even worse, she was reconsidering her decision to take the job in the first place.  Maybe it wasn’t a good fit for her, she told me.

I was surprised at her reaction.  I knew my wife had been struggling to pick up the new skills, but I also knew that she was a bright, capable, woman who had mastered much tougher content in the past.  I did my best to offer a word of encouragement as I left for a 2-day business trip, but it didn’t seem to help much.  I could see the concern on her face as I kissed her goodbye.

Normal, but still painful

I thought about what she was experiencing as I travelled.  I knew that her reaction was normal and something that all people experienced when they were learning a new skill.  At Blanchard, our Situational Leadership II model called this Development Level 2: Disillusioned Learner.  It’s when people go from being enthusiastic about a task when they first start, to disillusioned when the task is more difficult than they anticipated.  However, with encouragement, and as they begin to apply their new skills and gain confidence, they finally move on to mastery.  It all sounds so neat in theory, but as my wife demonstrated, it doesn’t make it any easier for the person going through the process.  Still, reconsidering whether to stay with the company seemed an especially strong reaction.

That’s why I was so surprised when I returned home and she told me that she was moving forward with the new role and was even looking forward to the next position beyond that.

“What happened,” I asked, amazed at the complete change in her attitude in less than 48 hours.

What she told me next were two important actions that all managers need to add to their skill set when asking employees to stretch and try something new.

1. She received some positive feedback.  After two weeks of practicing her new skills (badly, in her mind) she received some outside feedback on how she was doing.  She was surprised to find out that she had received a 97 and a 98 rating on her two recent evaluations.  These scores were consistent with the scores she had been receiving in her previous role.  She was shocked that her work was so good.  She was sure that she was going to receive bad scores.  The lack of feedback up to this point had caused her mind to imagine the worst.  A little bit of positive feedback provided a different perspective and dispelled that fear.
2. She talked to her manager about her concerns.  She shared with her manager that she felt that she had only mastered about 40% of the material.  She also expressed her concern that maybe she wasn’t a good fit for the role.  Her manager reassured her that she was right on track and even shared a personal story that she remembered only being 20% confident of the material when she had completed the class years before.  The manager also shared that my wife was doing great, was one of the best people on the team, and that she had a bright future with the company. A little bit of encouragement and my wife’s confidence was restored.  In fact, she now had a “just watch me grow” attitude I hadn’t seen since she first started.

Is it time to check in with your people?

How are your people doing?  Are they knee deep in learning new skills?  Have you checked in with them lately?  It never hurts to ask.

Disillusionment is a normal stage of development.  By responding appropriately with encouragement and support, managers can help their people get through this difficult stage and move on to confident performance.  Don’t risk losing any of your best people to an extended period of disillusionment.  Don’t let a drop in confidence and perceived skill keep your people from moving forward.  Check in and see how they are doing.  Offer a word of encouragement if appropriate.  It can work wonders!

 The three big culprits? 

1. Employee turnover.  Poor leadership is responsible for up to 30% of the reasons why people leave their organizations according to exit interviews conducted by The Saratoga Institute.
2. Customer turnover. Poor leadership negatively impacts employee satisfaction, which in turn negatively impacts customer satisfaction and retention. Research published in Harvard Business Review calculated that every 5 point change in employee satisfaction scores caused a 1.3 point change in customer satisfaction scores.
3. Employee productivity.  Poor leadership leads to poor employee productivity.  Research from Blanchard shows that direct report productivity can be improved 5-12% through better management practices. 

Most senior executives instinctively know that leadership impacts the bottom line, but quantifying that impact has been a challenge in the past.  This new white paper (and the free online calculator that the information is drawn from) is a great way for leaders to put some facts behind their suspicions. 

You can download a copy of this new white paper, Making the Business Case for Leadership Development: The 7% Differential here.  If you are interested in calculating what poor leadership practices might be costing your organization, also check out Blanchard’s free online Cost of Doing Nothing Calculator.  This is the same free online calculator used by survey respondents in the white paper.

It’s a time each morning when I really want to quit—and in a lot of cases I did, because it seems like it was getting worse and worse with no improvement in sight.  But an interesting thing happens if I just stay with it a little while longer.  At about the 6:00 minute mark, my heart and lungs do catch up, my breathing is heavy but measured, and I realize that the worst is over.  I can do this!

The same thing happens at work when people face a new difficult task or role.  There is a moment, after the excitement of trying something new wears off, when we realize that this is going to be more difficult than we thought. 

Seth Godin writes about this phenomenon is his book, “The Dip” and it has important insight for any manager looking to improve growth and retention in their organization.  That’s because “the dip” is a prime time when many employees quit a task or a role because it seems too hard with no improvement in sight.

Do you have any employees who are at or near their “dipping point” on a task or role?  What are you, as a manager, doing to help them get through it?  Here are three tips that can help.

1. Identify where each employee is at with a specific task or role.  Are they an enthusiastic beginner, or has disillusionment set in?
2. If they are an enthusiastic beginner, channel that excitement by having them work on the right tasks, in the right order, to get the job done.
3. If disillusionment has set in, add a strong coaching component into the mix.  In addition to clear direction, you are going to have to provide them with a lot of support while they work through “the dip.” Encourage them on progress (even when they can’t see it), remind them of the goal, and make time to be there with training and other resources.

Don’t let “the dip” scuttle your plans.  With a little bit of help, people can power through to success.

As I reviewed Deloitte’s recent Trust in the Workplace – 2010 Ethics & Workplace Survey, I was reminded of the dire consequences faced by organizational leaders who don’t get the right answer when it comes to understanding and appreciating the critical importance of trust in today’s workplace.

Is a Lack of Trust Hurting Your Performance?

Deloitte’s survey revealed that 48% of Americans who plan on looking for a new job once the economy improves cited a loss of trust in their employer as a reason for leaving. When you look at that statistic from a different angle you realize that those individuals have already “quit” their employers but have chosen to stay in their current job until a more opportune time to jump ship comes along. This lack of trust results in employees looking out for their own best interest rather than that of the organization or its customers. The consequences of low trust include lower profitability, productivity, efficiency, creativity, and employee morale, just to name a few.

“Trust” can be an elusive concept to define if we don’t have a common frame of reference. To illustrate this, pause for a moment and form a mental picture of what trust means to you. Did you picture the strong roots of a redwood tree? Maybe you imagined the anchor of a large ship? Or perhaps you pictured a parent holding a child’s hand? The reason each person views trust differently is that trust is based on perceptions of behaviors.

The TrustWorks!® ABCD Trust Model provides a common language individuals can use to build and nurture trust in relationships. The ABCD’s of trust are:

Able – Demonstrate Competence. Do you have the expertise needed for your job? Do you achieve results? Do you facilitate work getting done in the organization? Demonstrating competence inspires others to have confidence and trust in you.

Believable – Act with Integrity. Are you honest with others? Do you behave in a manner that is consistent with your stated values? Do you apply company policies fairly and treat people equitably? “Walking the talk” is essential in building trust in relationships.

Connected – Care About Others. Being connected means focusing on people, having good communication skills, and recognizing the contributions of others. Caring about others builds trust because people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Dependable – Maintain Reliability. Are you organized in your work habits in such a way that it allows you to follow through on your commitments? Are you responsive to others and hold yourself accountable? One of the quickest ways to break trust is by not doing what you say you’ll do.

For a more thorough discussion on the importance of trust in relationships and organizations, and the TrustWorks!® ABCD Trust Model, I suggest you download Building Trust, a recently published white paper from The Ken Blanchard Companies.

In today’s economy leaders need to recognize the value of trust or be ready to face the consequences. When it comes to building trust, here’s to hoping that all your consequences are happy ones!

But is it? 

A new white paper entitled The High Cost of Doing Nothing: Quantifying the Impact of Leadership, shows that this is a misguided assumption.  According to Blanchard research, most organizations are operating with a million dollar drag on performance that better leadership can resolve.  As organizations look for ways to improve engagement, productivity, and satisfaction, it is important to remember the pivotal role that day-to-day leadership plays. 

Here are the three areas that the paper looks at along with some initial ideas on what managers can do to improve the situation. Think about your own organization as you review the three areas identified in the new white paper. 

Employee Productivity—Consistently identified as the largest financial drain in most organizations, poor leadership costs the average company 5-10% of potential performance. When employees do not receive the direction and support they need to accomplish their key tasks successfully, the result is wasted time, substandard results, and costly rework. 

Leaders can make the situation better by asking questions.  Does the employee understand the goal and have a clear plan for accomplishing it?  Do they have the knowledge and skill set to be able to perform this task without a lot of supervision or direction?  What is their motivation to work on this?  If managers ask the right questions up front, they can find out very quickly what a direct report needs. 

Customer Satisfaction—Even with all of the recent emphasis on having a customer focus, most organizations still only achieve a 75% satisfaction rating according to national customer service indexes. This translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue growth for the typical company.  How does leadership impact customer service?  By making sure that everyone in the organization is focused in the right direction—towards the customer.  In too many organizations, employees are looking up the organizational chart instead of in the direction of the customer.  Leaders can redirect this attention toward the customer by asking, “What can I do to help you in your job so that you, in turn, can better serve our customers?” 

Employee Retention—A third area where organizations typically see a drain on performance is through the loss of high potential employees. While today’s economic slowdown has dramatically reduced voluntary turnover in most organizations, it’s important that organizations not become complacent. Just because people can’t switch jobs right now doesn’t mean you can neglect people—especially high performers. Good people are always in demand, and you want your best people to know that you value them and want them to work for you.  Leaders can reduce unwanted turnover by 10-30% by checking in with high performers on a regular basis, expressing appreciation, and providing growth opportunities. 

Leadership makes a difference. In the average organization, this translates into over $1 million dollars of bottom-line impact on an annual basis.  As you look for ways to improve performance in your own company, don’t underestimate the impact that day-to-day leadership has on productivity, customer satisfaction, and retention. 

To access a copy of the complete paper, click here. 

If you’d like to try the calculator that the paper is based on, it is also available online at www.costofdoingnothing.com  It’s free, it only takes a few minutes to complete, and you get access to a complete personalized report immediately.

To participate in the online discussion, stop by http://www.leaderchat.org  beginning at 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time.

Instructions for Participating in the Online Chat

If you have a question that you would like to ask Kathy Cuff or David Witt, just click on the COMMENTS link above.  Then post your question and push SUBMIT COMMENT.  Kathy and Dave will answer as many questions as possible during the 30-minute online Q&A.  (Be sure to press F5 to refresh your screen occasionally to see the latest responses.)

If you can’t stay for the entire 30-minute chat, but would like to see all of the questions and responses, you can always stop by later.  You can also click on the RSS FEED button in the right-hand column to receive updates automatically through email.

Using formulas based on independent research the calculator helps executives identify what excessive employee turnover costs a company when good people with developed skills leave an organization, what dissatisfied customers cost a company, and how less than optimal employee productivity numbers translate into bottom line impact.   

The overall result?  A shocking $1,000, 000 dollars or more in most cases.   

Interested in finding out what your Cost of Doing Nothing might be?  You can check out the Cost of Doing Nothing Calculator for free at www.costofdoingnothing.com or by clicking here to access The Ken Blanchard Companies web site.