Your best people may leave
58% people say they trust strangers more than their boss, according to a 2019 study done by Harvard Business Review.
As we know, most people don't leave companies; they leave bad managers. A 2021 Gallup study showed that 50% of employees “have left their job to get away from their manager at some point in their career.”
I’ve been there. Early in my career, I Ieft a company because of a bad manager. I loved the work, however I left because of the person I worked for.
When people feel they have a manager they can trust, they feel appreciated, respected, and valued for their contributions. This leads to a stronger sense of belonging, increased engagement, productivity and loyalty.
Bottom line: Building trust is a strong retention strategy.
Last week, a friend and business owner shared with me that one of her key employees of 6 years, surprised her by announcing, “I’m giving my notice…no I don’t have a job to go… yes, I know inflation is the highest it’s been since 1980s and economists keep threatening us that there a recession, however I’m moving on.” My friend was surprised, almost in shock. However, it’s becoming more common. McKinsey reported that 40% of people surveyed are likely to leave their job in the next 3-6 months.
My friend made a concerted effort to understand why this employee was leaving through an exit interview.
The employee said he was “taking stock of how he wanted to work and who he was working with.” “In hindsight, the owner said, “he has been disengaged for a while.”
Named the 'Great Attrition', employees who are disengaged are leaving their jobs at record rates. Employee expectations have changed, couple that with the impact of hybrid work environments, increased demands because of supply chain and labour shortages, mental health, and the loss of personal connection, employee retention is critical.
People not only leave their bosses; they leave their teams. The opposite also applies. Strong relationships of trust can keep people, even when the work isn’t that exciting, or the stress is high.
3 things you can do TODAY to help retain and build trust with colleagues and your team
- Invest in their professional development. This is a tangible way to show conscious compassion and commitment. A recent study revealed, 86% of employees say they would change jobs if a new company offered them more opportunities for professional development.
- Show your colleagues that you really do understand them, their challenges, hopes, fears and what frustrates them. And then be direct and honest about why they matter to you, and what makes you and your team stay in the game every day to make a difference for your audience, to help them achieve their dreams. As we discuss in workshops, empathy and mutual understanding is key.
- Recognize your employees. Let them know you appreciate them and let them know how their work matters to the company’s purpose and how it matters to customers. Here is a tip: When you praise and recognize, doing so publicly in a timely fashion will increase the impact.
Invest to train your managers how they can build meaningful relationships of trust in their teams. This is an easy step towards building productivity and engagement and it's critical to retaining your best employees. (Find out more here.)
Trust is a key ingredient to a high-performance team.
If learning how to develop and cultivate relationships of trust could move the needle for you and your colleagues please reach out. I’d love to hear from you.