Is Employee Loyalty a Trait of the Past?

I have been a retained executive recruiter for over 26 years and have had the opportunity to interview thousands of possible candidates.  There is little doubt in my mind that employee loyalty is at an all time low.
Of late I have been seeing more and more people ready to jump ship and their employers don’t have a clue.  Secretly sending off resumes for immediate review and marking Emails containing resumes as CONFIDENTIAL and DO NOT FORWARD WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE written all over them.  A recent national survey claims that ONE in THREE professionals surveyed, hope to have a new position within the next 12 months.  This statistic if even 50% accurate,  is HUGE!
So why the downturn in loyalty you might ask?

A.      Stress levels are at an all time high

B.      Morale levels are at an all time low

C.      Insensitive and inept managers are in charge

D.      Inclusion of the team as a concept has been thrown by the wayside for penny pinching ideas

E.       Very poor communications

F.       Employees have learned how to give lip service to pacify supervisors/management

G.      Mission and Values that may or may not be stated and/or demonstrated by management

H.      Little utterance of the words, “Thank You”

I.        Lack of respect of one’s supervisor which happens to be an earned assessment

J.        No defined corporate business and social responsibility

What makes all this terrible for profitability, the morale of the company and the well being of the employee/employer health is that it doesn’t have to be this way.  So many times I’ve counseled executives who have an employee departing, I’ve asked, “did you try to save him/her?”  No is usually the answer, they’ve made up their mind so I just wished them well.  But don’t you have time and money invested in that employee I’d ask?  Well yes, but there is nothing I can do is typically the response.

The cost to replace one $9.00 per hour employee is somewhere between $5,000 and $7,500.  The cost to replace one $80,000 salaried employee is about $120,000.  THAT’S MONEY COMES RIGHT OFF THE BOTTOM LINE AND REDUCES YOUR PROFITS ACCORDINGLY.

The time to think about retention is the first day an employee starts.  You must have a plan in place.  Secondly, you must take control of the corporate destiny by treating people as people and realize that we are all individuals.  It matters not the number of employees in your organization, if you are not a good business citizen you will not be respected, rewarded and grow your organization.  If you need assistance, we CAN help!

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

Q; What are the steps for Grooming Successful Mentors?

A:  First off, I’d like to acknowledge that managers need to play a role in driving employee engagement and performance. I would not recommend that you replace manager-employee coaching or try to make up for bad managers with a mentoring program.

Clarify your objectives. An effective mentoring program supplements coaching from managers, and it should be positioned as a way to make the business, not just individual employees, more successful. From there you can add a more specific goal, such as helping new employees get up to speed quickly.

Define your mentor selection criteria. Mentors need to be more than willing. They need to have a coaching attitude and ability. Describe these characteristics in writing—and other traits, such as particular business knowledge or specific skills.

Equip your mentors. Provide tools and training to help mentors fulfill their role. This process goes beyond basic coaching skills to include an emphasis on:

·         Individualized partnerships. “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” may serve people well most of the time, but it can actually get in the way of successful mentoring. Effective mentors understand their individual mentees’ needs and work with everyone differently. What works great for one person can derail another.

·         Career coaching. Although employees may look to their mentors for career “navigation” advice, our research indicates that few are clear on what’s important to them. Mentors need to help people get behind the core values that create job satisfaction for them. What do they like to do and why? What would enrich their work each day? Only then can mentors help employees create a plan for professional development, career progression or job enrichment.

Reinforce mentoring. To reap the benefits that mentors provide, you need to make mentoring a way of life. Senior leaders must be role models and discuss with employees the impact that mentoring has on business and personal success.

Leaders experience success as mentors through practice. The more they mentor, the more successful their mentoring becomes. A virtuous cycle will then take hold: They believe in mentoring, they’ve seen how it works, and they’re motivated to build their own competence.

And don’t forget to build in accountability, metrics and recognition systems. Without these, mentoring can fall by the wayside as a “nice to do that we don’t have time to do,” instead of remaining a core strategy for building an engaged workforce and thriving business.  Of course if you need help in setting up a mentoring program and/or would like to send your managers to a 2 day seminar that teaches mentoring, leadership and building relationships to improve your company culture, please call or write and I will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC 

As A Manager Are You A Leader or As A Leader Are You A Manager….Or Both?

Leadership is paramount to the success of any employee retention event or program.  I can’t say enough about the void that is caused when you have managers that are not leaders.  And managers who escalate their self serving status to that of a “micro-manager” is even worse.

We know leaders have influence because people choose to follow them.  A leader does not have to hold a manager or supervisor title to be chosen by followers.  In a successful organization, leaders can be found at every level – from the boardroom to the mailroom, from the executive office to the customer service desk.  This may be particularly true in organizations that favor a flatter, more team-oriented environment.

A.   Managers influence by the authority of their position and title.  They are appointed to their position, and are given certain responsibilities, based on that position.

B.   Leaders are influential because people choose to follow them.  Leadership is not an appointed position.  Without followers, leaders would not have any influence at all!

C.   Leadership is not a set of traits or skills; rather it is best described as a relationship between leaders and followers.

We know that leaders emerge in the natural course of business.  We all have leadership qualities and abilities that enable us to make important contributions.

i.              Leadership is a dynamic relationship between leaders and followers

ii.            Effective leaders focus on different things in response to changing needs, and

iii.           Leaders and followers may exchange roles as the needs of the situation change.

Think about a flock of geese soaring through the air.  When they fly in formation, the leader does not remain the same.  In the course of a flight, several of the flock takes turns moving to the front of the “V”.  As a leader tires, it falls back and takes it place with other geese, while a new leader emerges to continue the journey.

Let your natural leadership shine within your organization.  Be a great team player which in my opinion is one that can lead and follow.  If you need help, we are available to assist you….call or write and we will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

President

Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

Grinnell, Iowa 50112

Retained Search Consultant

What is the real goal here?

I recently received a call from a former client and she was jus t beside herself.  “…I don’t know what is going on but I’ve recently lost two key employees, morale seems to be in the tank, the team is filled with silly errors, customers are upset and I just can’t figure out why.”

Two days later I was sitting in her office and we were about to have a very painful discussion.  I asked this one question; “What is the real goal here at your company?”  And her answer didn’t surprise me but she said, “….to grow my company and make money and have fun while doing it.”

Then I asked, “….why did you lose two key people?” 

Answer, “I don’t know because they both got a raise within the last few months.”

“Why do you still have two openings,” I asked.  “…because I can’t find anybody to replace them.”

Then after a few days of meeting with her current employees and going to the homes of the two key people who resigned to do post mortem on their employment and why they really left, I came back with the following information and suggestions;

From the two former and current employees I got these tidbits and I’m giving you only the short version here:

A.      Start hiring good employees and not just those that breathe in and out all day.  Because the problem is the current “good” employees are the ones that are asked to do more and because complacency is the norm with the not so good employees and they are allowed to do less.

B.      Demonstrate to each of us that you are a good leader.  There was no coaching, no individual encouragement to grow and do better.  Nobody listening to our ideas and this wreaked havoc with team morale.

C.      Clean house of those employees who just don’t get, don’t want to get or have disrespect for the other members of team by not carrying their weight.  The negativity just destroyed our hard working teams.  We got tired of carrying the load. (so it wasn’t about money)

This is the primary goal(s) we agreed upon and agreed that ALL employees would now become aware of the primary goal(s) and she must get a buy in from each individual:

1.       Provide our employees with the tools both tangible and intangible to be successful in our cultural environment

2.       Provide outstanding service and products to our clients

3.       Make a profit.

For those of you who have followed the Desk of Gman for the last several years will know that I’ve used the following statements time and time again and here they are again BECAUSE THEY ARE PARAMOUNT TO SUCCESS OF A BUSINESS!!!

1.       Good companies fix bad managers

2.       Bad Companies condone bad managers

3.       90% of the time, employees quit their bosses and not their companies

4.       Having employees resign is not good but having employees resign and not leave is even worse

5.       Employee retention, employee morale and employee growth is a management issue and not an H.R. issue.

If your company is in distress, we can help!

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Client Growth Consultants

How Much Is Employee Apprehension Costing You?

Does your company confuse allegiance or loyalty with tenure?  If so, there may be a rutted rocky road ahead for your organizations future.  It is well documented in todays’ marketplace that tenured employees, who are replete with obsolescence, can bring productivity to a slow death.

If your employees are filled with apprehension and fear of upsetting the entrenched guys and gals in your organization, you DO have a serious problem within the organizational ranks.

If you management style or management team ranks tenure higher than performance, then sadly, I suggest you reevaluate not only your current management but your talent acquisition and management practices

I’ve said this before but it is well worth saying again, “The only thing worse than an employee who quits and leaves is an employee who quits and stays.”  Length of service and loyalty are not necessarily one in the same.

Take a moment right now and mentally review and picture the following and ask yourself, which team member would I prefer on my team?

A long term employee who resides in his/her self serving corner of the office….but when the real assessment is made, it is obvious he/she is an under performer? These people are exceptionally good at the smoke and mirror game and you should beware because they position themselves with a different mask every day. 

OR an employee who has been there not so long but consistently is willing to go the extra mile, contributes without being prodded, typically meets or exceeds goals and expectations and you always know where you stand with them? 

This subject is truly a value and performance issue and if you allow long term employees to reside in a clouded corporate bubble, then you are retaining them for all the wrong reasons.

TENURE AS WE HAVE KNOWN IT IS NOW ARCHIAC AT BEST:  This isn’t the 40’s or 50’s it is the 21^st Century.  Catch up with the real world.

TENURE THAT DOESN’T REPRESENT THE FUNDAMENTAL TALENT BASE DESTROYS THE BOTTOM LINE: Identifying, developing and rewarding employees is one of the best and safest ways to drive sales and profits.

TENURE THAT PROPAGATES USELESSNESS, OBSOLESCENCE AND MEDIOCRITCY ALSO INHIBITS CHANGE AND GROWTH:  It is critical to get out of your comfort zones and stop saying, “….but it is the way we have always done it.”

With all this said, allow me to reach for the real issue within this subject.  As an owner, executive, manager or team leader, it is critically important that your mindset is predisposed towards performance. 

The final choices become yours, so take ownership and grow or not:

A.    You can reward talent, dependability, initiative, innovation, loyalty, attitude, creativity, work ethic, contribution and leadership (because you take ownership of the concept and instill this in your employees) OR

B.    Maintain a workplace that believes in archaic concepts, mediocrity in performance and believes that because an employee has worked here a long time, we need to continue to “do it that way to keep peace in our business family.”

Now you need to ask yourself one final question…..Just How Much is Employee Apprehension Costing Me?

We Can Help!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.