We often think that it’s the job of the human resources department to own employee retention, but believe it or not, that isn’t the case. While HR is the place where statistics are tracked, and dashboards are analyzed – it’s the entire organization that’s truly responsible for retention. Why? Because when employees don’t feel heard, seen, or valued, they won’t feel empowered or included either. You retain your best employees when they have a reason to work toward your organization’s mission. When they have a reason to share their opinions and ideas and work towards a common goal, they’re given the opportunity to have a voice. But not when they’re being silenced by micromanagement or the build-up of difficult work relationships. From top to bottom, each role plays a huge part in employee retention.
What Makes Employees Want to Leave
Micromanagement is one of the biggest ways your employees will give up their will to stay within your organization. You can likely think of a time in your career when you were micromanaged, and I bet that made you feel like you couldn’t be trusted or your skills weren’t up to par. No one wants to be made to feel like they’re not good enough or untrustworthy, and that’s exactly what micromanagement does. Especially when an employee is a perfect fit to do the job but they’re not given the freedom to do it. This usually results from a lack of proper delegation, but no matter where the problem originates, it almost always ends in resignation. Everyone within your organization wants to feel uplifted and a part of a culture that strives for the betterment and growth of each employee – not just its leaders.
Another huge factor is workplace attitudes. Trust me, we all have our bad days, and some of us are better at leaving that at the door than others. But when you have employees whose bad days last weeks or months at a time, that’s when it becomes an overall bad attitude – not just simply a bad day. When someone’s negativity constantly surrounds you, it’s like a ticking time bomb on how soon it will rub off on you too. You never want your employees to get to that point of unconformability. That’s when the dread of showing up to work every day sets in and begins adding to that ‘one foot out the door’ mentality.
What Makes Employees Want to Stay
Observing your organization closely will help you be able to pick up on the shifts and changes in workplace morale or individual productivity. Your employees want to be seen, and the easiest way to do that is to simply look and pay close attention. Notice what goes on in the workplace and address micromanagement or sour attitudes quickly. Give your employees opportunities to tell you what they need from both you and upper management. That the door is open to come to any of you when needed. A lot of factors will be things unsaid, but with daily observation, you can very easily pick up on them.
Recognizing and treating your employees like equals also goes a long way. Show appreciation to them as often as you can. Your employees are the ones who contribute to the organization’s overall well-being and success. Not only do they deserve a shout-out, but that’s another big reason they’ll want to stay. When your people feel like they’re alongside you on this career journey, it really resonates with them and thus, increases retention. It’s all about practicing caring leadership and learning how to course-correct with love. We may all be in different stages of our careers, but we can all have the same goal to achieve employee retention together.
Recap
Simply put, those within your organization want to know that they’re surrounded by a culture of inclusion. They want to feel a part of something that involves them as individuals and recognizes their voices as important and valuable. To build this type of culture, your organization must emanate recognition, observation, and listening skills from top to bottom, and it starts with you. These three leadership qualities go a long way in increasing employee retention, but truly caring about your people in your highest capacity will keep them feeling appreciated for years to come.