With the holidays upon us, it’s common to hear that we should be of good cheer. With a strained economy and a tight labor force, I want to underscore the value of that mindset. If not for the general principle of a holiday spirit, then definitely for the integrity and strength of the organization.
If you’ve been in the workforce for any length of time. no doubt you’ve noticed a change. Workplaces aren’t only different from what they were 10 or 20 years ago, they’re also much different from what they were three years ago. Workers have adopted new ways of doing things, and every employee has thoughts and feelings about his or her workplace, including what’s needed to be successful. Not trying to understand those needs is a management mistake.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that most people who leave their employer don’t quit their jobs, they quit their boss. In other words, the most common reason people quit is they’re tired of dealing with someone who’s not doing what’s needed in the management role.
As an example of this, at a workshop I recently conducted for a small management team, one of the participants (let’s call him Bill) spoke about a worker who, when asked, did not know how to perform a certain procedure. Bill’s attitude shocked me. With mocking in his voice, he conveyed how he’d said to the worker, “If you don’t know how to do that, go find the manual and read about it.”
Bill then assigned blame to the worker as he told me that the next day the worker called in and quit. “He obviously couldn’t handle the job,” Bill said, “so I’m glad he left.”
I’m a firm believer that managers like Bill are obstacles on the road to the organization’s success. Mocking employees and expecting them to learn skills without guidance and support is a fast lane for employees to find the exit door. Especially in a work world where just about every company has “now hiring” signs up. My advice to Bill was for him to reconsider the value of each employee. Eventually, I conveyed to him, “Your company hired that guy because they saw something in him that showed promise. It’s the responsibility of a manager to become an expert about the people he or she manages, then create an atmosphere where each employee can bloom.”
Additionally, as the day progressed, I pointed out that a core responsibility of managers is to train employees to be more efficient in what they do. It’s something I’ve said for nearly 20 years. “When managers start to think and act like trainers, their workplace becomes the thriving hub of productivity it wants to be.”
A large obstacle there is helping managers learn how to train. Another one of my mantras is, “The ability to stand up and talk does not a trainer make.” Organizational leaders need to ensure managers are equipped with training skills. Too often I hear managers say, “Training is HR’s job, not mine.” Not true. A good manager learns how to transfer skills, and that includes the necessary knowledge, safety and quality issues needed to perform those skills.
Managers don’t need to become full-time trainers, but they need to be able to think and act like one.
Here are a few more management “do’s” to keep employees plugged in and productive:
- Seek to understand the perspectives of each person on your team. It is the responsibility of front-line employees to learn the nuances of the products and services their company provides and the processes that must be followed to achieve the best possible end product for the customer. Managers have different responsibilities. Managers must learn about the strengths and blind spots of everyone on their team. Managers operate at a different level in the organization, and therefore they must think at a different level, too.
- Treat each employee with respect. Even the slightest mock or insult will leave a long-term scar. In some cases, like the one involving Bill as described above, an insulting or mocking tone causes people to leave. The cost of replacing employees has always been high, and it’s not going down. Managers costs their companies lots of hidden dollars if they create unfavorable conditions and employees leave as a result.
- Mutually identify action steps for each employee to help them succeed. Mutual means that you both have input. A mindset exists in some that people don’t like change. All one needs to do is visit Lowe’s or Home Depot to see that people are actively participating in change – so long as they have a say in how that change happens. In the workplace, helping people develop skills involves change. Managers should converse with their team members to learn what additional skills they would like to acquire, then create a path for those things to happen. Again, this effort should have agreement from both the manager and the team members.
- Follow-up on a regular basis to provide friendly advice or additional help. Don’t be like the guy who never told his wife he loved her. On their 20th anniversary, the woman said, “Why don’t you ever tell me that you love me?” The man responded, “I told you on the day we got married. If I change my mind, I’ll let you know.”
As I said, don’t be that guy. Employees, like pretty much all people, thrive on communication and feedback. Managers should provide guidance and assistance to help their team members stay confident and on a track that benefits everyone.
I should point out that the items listed above are not suggestions. They are core responsibilities for being an effective manager. Wouldn’t it be nice if all managers did these things? If they did, it’s guaranteed that not only would more people stay with their job, but managers – and their companies – would be more successful along the way.
– Daniel Bobinski, who has a doctorate in theology, is a best-selling author and a popular speaker at conferences and retreats. For more than 30 years he’s been working with teams and individuals (1:1 coaching) to help them achieve excellence. He was also teaching Emotional Intelligence since before it was a thing. Reach him by email at DanielBobinski@protonmail.com or 208-375-7606.
