Prevent Employees from Quitting — Do these Four Simple Actions

What if I told you that as a manager / leader / boss / group head, you have enormous power and influence over whether your employees stay or quit. What if I said you could prevent employees from quitting? What would you say?

My guess is it would be something like, “The budget is the budget and I have no way of giving someone more money.” Or, “I don’t make the rules or set the strategy — it’s beyond my control.” You might be right about your lack of influence but where you are mistaken is thinking that the company mission or employee compensation are the reasons most people quit their jobs.

A Gallup research survey indicates you have enormous power over the turnover rate in your area. The authors narrow the challenge down to a few, very specific, explainable, and observable, reasons as to why people quit, and how adjusting the supervisor’s perspective and behavior can have an enormous impact on retention.

Four Simple Actions to Prevent Employees from Quitting in Large and Small Companies

1. Employees want know what is expected of them. This is setting out goals and objectives, in ways that speak to actions, and then sticking to them. Forget the window dressing presented to top management, answer their question, “What do you want me to do and how will I know if I am doing it well?” I cannot tell you how many people I coach that are unclear or confused with this simple need. They either have no information, contradictory information, or ever-changing directives.

   Action: Regularly sit down with all your direct reports and give them a detailed picture. Have a dialogue about what needs to happen, how, and when. Identify roadblocks and hurdles. Follow-up and update. Address issues quickly and reinforce regularly. Commit.

2. Employees want someone to show they care. Cares about them, demonstrates interest in their work, and sees them as an individual with unique skills and talents, and a life outside of the office. Whether it’s congratulating them on a personal accomplishment, “I hear you finished the marathon — that’s great,” noting when someone is out sick and asking them how they feel before mentioning how far behind things are, or congratulating the person for a job well done, people want and need to be shown they are visible and valued.

   Action: Be around — their desks — not yours. Make notes to self about important personal events happening with a staff member. Be quick to praise in a way that is personalized, not rote. When appropriate, recognize publicly.

3. Employees want a manager who is interested, committed, and an advocate for their career development. “I made my manager look good and he was promoted; what about next steps for me?” Are there opportunities and what is the person in charge ready, willing, and able to do to advance them for her people? Unfortunately, the answer is often “not much” or “not a priority.”

   Action: If only for selfish reasons, you need to surround yourself with the best. How do you know what people are capable of if you don’t help them grow? My experience is the most loyal and grateful employees are those you help reach their potential. It’s a win all around.

4. Employees want their opinions to be heard and considered. When Toyota says any person in the company can shut down the assembly line when they see a problem, it means they are encouraging line workers to act. Who knows better than the people in front of the final product?

   Suggestion boxes rarely work. They are not used, the suggestions aren’t read or considered, or they are filled with comments from disgruntled people focusing on trivial things like people leaving old food in the refrigerator. Stories abound about worker suggestions that were ignore or laughed off.

   Action: Ask questions, listen intently, and give appropriate latitude or ownership to employees. Employees want to be asked and they want what they say to be taken seriously. When individuals believe that they are being listened to, they say some remarkable things. The popular Post-it was created by two accidents that 3M management was willing to hear from two employees with observations and suggestions that netted millions. To learn the whole story, go to “Post-It Notes Were Invented by Accident.“

As you can see, all the four actions: clear expectations, showing you care, demonstrating interest in career development, and allowing for opinions, are within your control and discretion. No going up the ladder for permission, no paperwork to fill out or precedence to be followed. It’s yours, and yours alone, to help prevent employees from quitting, which is why it should be so easy.

If it is so simple, why aren’t leaders doing it? I believe because they do not see people as assets and have never calculated the cost of losing and replacing valuable people.

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