1 BIG Reason you can’t Retain your Best People
Corey Harlock has spent more than 20 years at the executive management level in the hotel and restaurant sectors, and interviewed and surveyed thousands of prospective employees. With his finger firmly on the pulse of the hospitality industry, Corey can help your company find the right executive, increase its staff productivity, lower turnover and create a healthy work environment.
For those of you who have been reading my blogs for any length of time, you know that I am all about Retention/Attraction and finding and meeting the needs of individuals and not a team of people.
I had a lot of different thoughts about this week’s article, so I thought I would just let it flow and see what happens.
I think I want to start with “Mission Statements” or “Value Statements” or whatever you want to call them. They are bunk and a waste of time and in no way effect the actions of your managers or employees! You read that correctly.
So what does influence the way your managers and employees act? Simple answer – YOU.
You can have a warm, fuzzy, positive message to your new and current employees that exemplifies the standards and policies of the company, calibrates their moral compass in the right direction even makes them feel like they are part of something special. But what if the CEO, President, Regional, whoever is an asshole? It doesn’t mean anything!
When people start with your company they want to do the right thing, they want to be the best employee they can and they will try to point in the direction of the company compass. But any manager, no matter how dedicated can only deal with conflicting messages that challenge their morals and integrity for so long.
Let me explain. My particular favourite is the “company triangle.” You know the one with 3 equal sides – the shareholders, the guests and the employees. This is what you learn anyway when you are hired. So you begin your new job thinking, “Wow, these guys really care about their employees, I’m an equal to all other aspects of the business.”
Then you attend your first meeting and see that 80% of the time is spent talking about money lost/gained, 20% talking about unhappy guests and the new “blanket policies” that will fix it (oh yeah, you were probably not involved in that discussion either) and realize that over the course of the meeting your hard work, employees hard work or anything to do with the personal side of the business was ever discussed.
So let me ask you this: What is this companies culture again? The triangle OR “$” at any cost???
Paper means nothing, actions mean everything.
Let’s be clear here. I am not suggesting that you change the way you run your business (but for some of you it might not be a bad idea). What I am saying is… to improve your staff retention, performance and productivity you need to be honest about your values.
What are your horror stories about integrity conflict OR companies that were honest and upfront about thier value system? Leave a comment so we can all learn about how to create a better work environment.
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Bonus Plans. If they are not realistic, achievable goals, why are they offered? It is a red flag when a someone who interviews me tells me about their bonus plan and then explains that it is not really something you can achieve. My very next thought is ‘what OTHER goals are you going to set for me that I cannot achieve? I can work magic with the bottom line, but not if I don’t have a labor budget that’s reasonable.
A co-worker of mine recently circulated an email that I’ve copied below which re-iterates the point that associates/managers work for an individual, NOT a company. Thought you might like it:
“I recently read a blog from Rick Willis on “Do you get paid to be Liked?” and it got me thinking about the best and worst leaders I have worked for. Below are some thoughts based on Rick’s blog. Have a read and think about your past bosses and which one you performed the best for.
Think of the very worst leader you have ever worked for. On a scale of 1 to 10, what value were you able to bring to your job under their leadership? My worst was a guy named Gene. He made it clear to me on a regular basis that I could be replaced and threatened me all the time in a joking way. I was young and ambitious and I tried to keep him happy, but I did not like Gene, and I delivered, at best, 6 out of 10 of my potential. I spent most of my time trying to play the game and look for another job.
On the other hand, Brion was a boss who regularly sent clear messages that he believed in me, even while he challenged me to improve my results. I really liked Brion, and he got 10 out of 10 from me.
Imagine that if everyone who works for you could move up their value just one point on the scale, because of how they feel about you as their leader. You’ve just added 10% to the energy of your workforce.
So, if you are a leader, you do get paid to be liked. People offer their engagement, enthusiasm, trust, vision and innovative ideas to people they like, and they like people who they feel hold them in esteem.
So what will you do to ensure that the people who look to you as a leader feel you believe in them and you hold them in high esteem?”