“The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.”- J. Paul Getty
Is your company the kind that continually ‘keeps watch and nags’ its employees, makes them work too hard and late hours and refuses to acknowledge their efforts except once a year? Well don’t be surprised if we tell you that you are the reason employees leave and join companies that respect them and their efforts. You cannot run a business without people and if your people are constantly leaving you, your customers will not be able to trust you either and in addition your customer service will suffer due to the break in continuity. Despite this a number of companies still have been unable to grasp how to treat their employees and sure enough become the biggest reason employees leave. After a while, your company will find it difficult to attract good talent and would need to settle for less than efficient workers or people with no experience in their industry leading to higher costs of training and loss of man-hours. Eventually the internal operations get weaker leading to customer frustration and ire. So how and why do you become the reason employees leave?
- You forget to listen to your employees and treat them as a whole rather than as unique individuals. Day to day business operations take precedence and line managers and even the human resource departments forget to make time to speak to the employees. Frustrations and disappointments keep simmering and employees begin to feel that no one cares and hence much rather leave than talking to someone who will not be interested. A company must consciously weave into the culture, the practice of making time for employee interactions to facilitate and encourage employees to speak about their pains and also contribute actively to the functioning and success of the company.
- Bureaucracy is a major killer of employee morale. When employees don’t feel like they are valued or their opinion matters, it becomes a reason employees leave. Even the top talent are not given an opportunity to participate in some key decisions, operating procedures and other rules of the company leading to extreme disillusionment.
- There are hundreds on instances where companies forget to take into account career progression and continuous development of their employees. Year after year it is only about increasing the salary and providing benefits – this is extremely important too – but make no grounds for their employees to learn new skills, gain new knowledge and therefore unable to progress vertically in the company hierarchy. They are unable to provide a clear path for employees to progress – for example a manager would remain at the same level for years because the company has no policy for vertical growth. Detachment – a strong reason employees leave.
- With so much work happening and every one worried about deadlines there is bound to be conflict and friction. However it is a common occurrence that such situations get ‘swept under the carpet’ or go unnoticed simply because companies either don’t know they are happening, or they expect them to be resolved on their own or the worst – they just don’t care. These small incidents keep simmering and with time reoccur and become a big enough for employees to feel frustrated. The atmosphere in the office becomes suffocating, and erodes employee morale and motivation becoming a reason employees leave the company. It is the duty of every manager and supervisor to ensure that such incidences are not left unattended but rather sorted out immediately. Regular employee feedback and surveys help to bring such events to light. A suggestion drop box is also a great idea as it allows employees to speak their mind under anonymity.
- As discussed several times, employees emulate their leaders. However if they don’t see the company leadership as being effective, consistent, robust and charismatic it will be a big reason employees leave. How can you expect employees to work in a company where they don’t feel safe and protected and have no reason to respect the leadership? Would you want to work with such a company?
Companies can, through various means, methods, tools and actions show their employees that they are valued and the company considers them as the number one priority. Just like external customers, your internal customers deserve motivation, respect and courtesy. A friend worked for many years in a highly respected company and was very happy with the work environment and mostly because her boss was an extremely polite and considerate person. This boss was promoted and was moved elsewhere and she landed up with another. This new person was a nightmare – would scream and shout for all to hear often for the most minor of issues. This was common behaviour with all people in the office. My friend was aghast, but instead of leaving she made her resolve to leave the company if this was not sorted out. Thankfully the company took her complaint into account and this new person was warned but the behaviour continued and eventually this new boss was asked to leave. This company exemplified a great employer who would much rather be loyal to their loyal employees than have them leave because of someone in authority who didn’t match up to the culture.
We are not suggesting firing people, but some basic courtesies will ensure that you are not the reason employees leave. The following list matches the list of how employees are expected to behave with customers, so you know that you must do them.
- Say please, thank you and you’re welcome – basic and extremely crucial but often ignored. It is just common etiquette that must be extended to every person we meet and employees work hard to achieve a company’s goals and surely deserve it.
- Organize an all employee event – could be a lavish office party, an outstation trip or even a gathering where the employees can bring their families. This is a great way to break the monotony and for the leadership to meet the employees in an informal setting.
- Institute a system of on the spot recognition. If an employee or a team has done some outstanding work, give them lunch coupons or even movie tickets. It would be a great motivator for them and others too.
- Have regular meetings and one-on-one interactions with senior leadership for your employees. If meeting all employees is not possible, then at least the top performers should be afforded this opportunity. This will motivate others to be among the top performers.
- Ensure that regular feedback is provided to the employees and those who are doing well, are able to see a clear path that will lead to better opportunities and higher job responsibilities within the company.
- Encourage a culture where people do not hesitate to celebrate and announce small and big successes within their teams. People should not shy away from praising their co-workers and anyone who has made life in the office easier for them. This promotes a healthy and congenial work environment, where everyone is interested in making everything a success.
It all depends on you and your company whether you want to be the reason employees leave or a company that employees retire from and even then contribute to its success. You cannot hope to keep your external customers happy if the happiness of your employees is the last thing on your mind – you don’t deserve success.
