If you’re a manager, you certainly can’t please everyone, but you can make sure your behavior isn’t actively encouraging your workers to leave. Read on for three common reasons employees ditch their bosses, plus what you can do to turn them around.
They Don’t Communicate Goals
A friend once had a job requiring her to attend regular department meetings. These meetings aimed to communicate, recap, and evaluate the team’s goals. Unfortunately, these get-togethers were unproductive, long, and disorganized, and the team often left the conference room more confused about what to do next than when they entered.
Ineffective meetings are just the beginning. Many managers fail to adequately communicate company, department, and individual goals daily, making it impossible for their employees to meet those expectations. Managers often assume that employees fully understand their job descriptions from the get-go and don’t need any additional guidance in the form of measurable goals.
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They’ll is a dangerous approach; if employees don’t understand exactly what’s expected of them, they’ll have difficulty completing their tasks. And they’ll leave when they don’t feel like they’re being successful at work.
What You Can Do
You must communicate your overall mission and goals to your employees as a manager. You can do this in several ways: Meetings can be valuable when they’re run effectively (e.g., make sure to follow a clear and concise agenda, email detailed minutes to your team afterward, solicit feedback and questions from the group, and hold them regularly).
Beyond meetings, keep the lines of communication open by offering constant feedback to your employees and checking in with them regularly. Your team needs to be aware of their progress, what still needs to be done, and what their next steps should be. This kind of continuous interaction can go a long way to enhance performance: The more you talk about your expectations and goals, the more likely your employees will reach them.
They Don’t Make a Personal Connection
Managers often fail to engage employees daily, even if they’ve mastered big-picture company communication. Because they’re frequently overwhelmed with their work and responsibilities, managers don’t always have the time to initiate conversations that cover anything more than superficial discipline or a quick “good job.”
But without meaningful one-to-one conversations, leaders can’t connect with their employees professionally or personally. And that connection is more important than you might think. Realizing employees often look to their supervisors to help them feel more connected to the entire company. An employee who doesn’t feel related to her manager won’t feel like a vital part of the company, and without that bond, there’s not much holding her to her job.
What You Can Do
Make it a goal to connect with your employees daily. Not sure where to start? To lay the foundation for a good connection, make yourself available. And I mean that literally: Open your office door so your workers don’t feel like they’re interrupting you if they need to come to you for advice or input and make the rounds of your employees’ desks every so often to give your team ample opportunities to ask questions.
But beyond strictly work-centered topics, casual conversations are a perfectly acceptable way to connect with your employees. The key here is to ensure you’re still approaching them professionally. (So, while you can ask about their families, education, and hobbies, asking your employees what bars they’re hitting over the weekend is probably not a good idea.)
They Allow for a Negative Company Culture
Employees want a boss who fully supports them and stands behind their work. So, when managers refuse to take responsibility when things go wrong or criticize employees in front of the rest of the team, productivity, happiness, and job satisfaction start to plummet.
Some managers (like my boss at the cards and gifts shop) take it further by encouraging gossip, retaliation, and unethical behavior. And in that kind of work environment, employees won’t stick around to see if things will get better-they’ll be too busy running for the door.
What You Can Do
As a manager, you should set an example for how you want your employees to act. If you gossip, complain, or pass blame-guess what? Your employees are going to follow in your footsteps. So, instead of encouraging that behavior, promote positivity by being a trustworthy, dependable, and inspirational leader. Keep employees informed about organizational issues, motivate them to grow professionally, strive to understand their needs, and allow them to show off their skills. When conflict arises (as it undoubtedly will), fix it immediately instead of letting it go unnoticed. Even small issues can become destructive when ignored and threaten the team culture you’ve worked so hard to create.
Ultimately, being a great manager to your employees won’t just make them happy; it’ll make your job easier. You want your employees to trust you, look up to you, and respect you. For that to happen, they must stick around. Be a great boss, and you’ll attract great employees.
