Employees don’t leave companies; they leave their managers (I’ve said this time and time again) and this IS a key factor to a successful employee retention program.

    Employees want managers who will provide goals and direction, feedback and coaching—and who recognize and reward them for good performance. Yet research indicates that managers are not delivering on these expectations. One possible reason is that managers’ roles are not designed to focus on managing people. Most managers spend 90 percent of their time on technical and administrative tasks and only 10 percent of their time on activities related to managing and developing the people who report to them.

    There is a wealth of research indicating that management behavior is a key factor in retention. This is nothing new. Recent research has consistently shown that dissatisfaction with one’s manager is a top reason for leaving the organization.

    More recently, three different research studies examined the factors that predicted whether employees would stay with or leave their current organizations. Some of the most commonly found items predicting intention to leave were:

•    Insufficient feedback and coaching
•    Insufficient reward and recognition for their work
•    Insufficient learning and development opportunities
•    Insufficient sense that their organization values them
    

Management is responsible for delivering on each of these job factors. No one else can affect how an employee feels as dramatically and tangibly as an employee’s immediate manager. The most effective managers are those who know their employees’ strengths and development needs so well that they know which assignments to give based on balancing both organizational needs and those of the employees.
 

    Coaching and feedback make up one area that is receiving the most attention in organizations today. Employee survey results in company after company are showing that employees want and expect feedback. Research conducted with Gen Xers tells us that this age group not only expects feedback from their managers, but demands it. The Millennial Generation is even more voracious in its need for coaching and input.
 

    Finally, people want to know that they are appreciated when they do a good job or put in extra effort. Good managers praise employees in ways that raise self-esteem and commitment to the organization. Poor managers just expect it all, and, as a consequence, praise nothing. What they really get is turnover, and lots of it. And then they get less productivity out of the people who do stay.
 

EMPLOYEE RETENTION CONTINUES TO BE A MANAGEMENT ISSUE!
 

We Can Help!  Call or write and we WILL respond immediately!
 

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President/CEO
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.
www.ClientGrowthConsultants.com

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Does Your Organization Suffer From Management Capability?

Research suggests that most organizations neglect the responsibility of managers, undervalue the role and therefore suffer from a lack of strong management capability. A survey I read a few years ago indicated that employees who plan to stay with their current companies are twice as likely to stay when managers recognize their talents and encourage them to use those talents to the fullest.

I would say that the trend that has emerged is far from a bed of roses. Today’s managers are also individual contributors and they spend more of their time doing their "real" jobs and technical aspects of their positions, than they actually spend quality time managing their employees. This behavior is problematic because today’s employees want more from their managers and workplaces, not less. And they are willing to walk out of your workplace if they don’t get it.  And that is true even in this economic climate.

While employees are hungry for praise and eager to get help expanding their capabilities, there is, unfortunately, a corresponding capability gap among managers to give them what they need. This deficit exists for many reasons, including but not limited to:

•    Years of downsizing means companies expect more from fewer employees
•    There simply is not enough time for managers to devote to mentoring and employee development
•    Insufficient skills. Managers don’t know how to provide feedback and develop people
•    A deficiency of a meaning rewards program
•     Managers are rewarded based upon individual contributions and achievements, not their management skills or a combination of the two.
•    The mistaken belief that "one size fits all." The same rewards tactic won’t motivate everyone equally.
•    Organizations do not place a high enough value on the role of the manager
 

Have a tremendous week.  Call or write if I can help in any way.
 

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

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• How Can Poor Time Management Skills Cause Conflicts in a Company? (thinkup.waldenu.edu)
• How Can Poor Time Management Skills Cause Conflicts in a Company? (thinkup.waldenu.edu)

What Would You Suggest The Process To Be To Groom Several Successful Mentors In My Organization?

I’d like to begin by suggesting 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 leadership 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, CPC

Related articles

• The Results: How Reverse Mentoring Can Enhance Diversity and Inclusion (blogs.cisco.com)
• Peer to peer mentoring - expertise in your back pocket [Judith Germain] (ecademy.com)

What is a Trusted Adviser Relationship?

There are times when I leave a meeting with my staff or my client and we are just not on the same page. Sure, we agree on what activities, sales or services have taken place and/or what remains to be done, but it seems like I don't know what is going on inside their heads.  George please share any thoughts you may have on this subject.

You are perceptive to recognize that this is an important issue. If you are going to be steps ahead of your staff or client, or at least not behind, you need to understand their mindset, their concerns, and their emotions. It is easier, of course, to just consider your relationship with staff or a client as transactional: they ask you to provide a service and you provide it based on your experience and skills. But that's not the basis of a trusted adviser relationship.

Decisions are highly influenced by emotion;

1.    Do you know to what extent your client or his or her staff is bound by emotion, even for "technical" decisions?
2.    What factors exist that could affect those emotions?
3.    How do they feel about you, trust your professional judgment, or consider you trustworthy as a person?
4.    How does the way they use or are aware of the emotional component of operating and decision making affect how you could, or should, present them with information or a request for a decision?

Before any encounter with a prospect or a client, ask yourself;

A.    What do I want them to think and feel as a result of this upcoming discussion or event?
B.    Am I trying to get them to change the way they think or feel about a certain issue, person or event?
C.    Do I want them to think or feel differently about me?
D.    Is where their head is right now conducive to my short or longer term objectives and is this the right time to inform them of a specific fact or recommend a specific course of action?
E.    Have I correctly understood where they are now and will my approach leave them in the desired thinking and feeling frame of mind?

Although some business professionals may approach every conversation like this intuitively, get into the habit of internally asking these questions before each conversation, meeting, or presentation. This technique applies equally to encounters with a group of people, such as when you are presenting your findings to a management team. Don't get stuck just presenting "just the facts" and forget that you are trying to influence your audience, something tightly bound up with their emotions.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

President

Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

Related articles

• How Should We Make Hard Decisions? (wired.com)