How Good Managers Can Be Great At Retaining Staff

Employees will stay with you because of two major influences:

1. Policies of the organisation: learning and development, remuneration, performance management and reviews, promotions, and so on
2. What their manager does and doesn't do, says and doesn't say ... every day

So while businesses will often focus on this first area - and it is essential to spend the time getting it right - policy is only half the story. It cannot work without its twin, which comes from real-life experience, what actually happens in reality with their manager.

And by manager, we're not looking at hierarchy. We're talking about people managers - anyone who manages someone else.

Without a doubt - in the research we've done over the last 8 years - the manager has the single greatest influence over the employee's decision to perform, to stay, or in fact ... to quit. In a nutshell, managers make people stay - and manager's make people leave.

Good managers who want to be great managers and truly engage their team may feel they need to learn more and reach for a large 'how-to' book on being a great manager. They read up, they study. However, there is no article or book in the world which is going to tell you how to retain your specific team of individual people.

The solution is so much easier - you simply need to ask the people who work for you.

Spend time with your people and find out what they need more of, less of, what gets them up in the morning, what really motivates them, what they want from you as a manager. If you ask in the right way, they'll tell you. Then it's up to you to follow through. That is the way to be the best manager you can be - for each individual on your team.

As a starting point, here are eight manager secrets when aiming for greatness:

1. Be approachable - visible, friendly and helpful
2. Communicate effectively, regularly and use many channels. Remember sometimes we need to hear the message more than once to absorb it
3. Meet as a team regularly

4. Allow employees to make mistakes and learn

5. Look for opportunities to recognise effort and results

6. Be flexible about work/life demands

7. Give credit where credit is due

8. Be knowledgeable - and share your knowledge

If you have concerns about employee retention, getting the policy side of things right is essential. But don't leave it at that. Spend as much time on your people managers and what they are saying and doing with their people as you can. Train them with retention skills. Encourage them to create engagement plans and have engagement discussions with their team. Give them support and systems to be the best manager they can be.

Creative ideas to practice

Managers can contribute to their teams in so many ways - mentoring, finding opportunities to introduce variety, instilling and encouraging passion, giving enough space, giving enough support ... just to name a few.

Here are some practical ideas for managers to start doing today. These small things can make a big impact.

Five creative ideas for reward and recognition which helps managers 

Look for opportunities to recognise effort and results.

1. Personalise your pay slips 
   
   If geography permits, consider asking managers to hand out/email a personal note with the pay slips, so managers can say ‘thank you' or recognise a contribution in that time period.
2. Wall of fame 
   
   If you are in a service environment and an email or letter of thanks comes in from a client, frame it and put it on the wall. This often means a lot to the person or team more so than anything else. Plus, visitors love to read the letters too.
3. Get out of the chair 
   
   Every day remember to give thanks and recognition to your team. Get up out of your chair and spend time with someone on your team, even just for a few minutes. Phone them if they are in a different location. Ask them about their day, if they need additional help, what they are working on.
4. Encourage bright ideas 
   
   Try giving out a lightbulb filled with candy to anyone who comes up with a bright idea. It generates excitement and encourages ideas to keep coming in. You could also do something like Karma currency instead - where the organisation makes a donation but the person chooses which charity to support.
5. Treasure box 
   
   Have a small treasure chest of goodies, such as movie tickets, gift vouchers, book vouchers, etc. Choose someone to recognise every fortnight or so and let them choose something out of the treasure box. May seem a little contrived, but you'd be surprised how well it works.

Four creative ideas for work/life balance

Help managers ‘be flexible about work/life demands'

1. Set the example
   
   Model balance and share with your team what you do to achieve balance in your life. Do not support workaholism.
2. Put it on the agenda 
   
   Hold a ‘balance' discussion at a team meeting, or one-to-one with each team member. Don't discuss anything else except balance, so they know it is important to you.
3. Ask them 
   
   Ask your team members what else they have going on in their lives and what matters most to them. Get to know their non-work interests.
4. Show your support 
   
   Support your employees in achieving balance. Some examples: encourage them to go to their child's school plays or for a golf lesson or encourage the organisation to support a charity drive for their cause.