by Cathy Sedacca
Attracting and retaining good employees is a hot topic and an especially tough challenge.
As Sage’s Cal Walker addressed last fall, (Attracting Employees Like Bees to Honey) the ability to attract good employees can be influenced by things like the right culture, values, work space, and social-impact statements.
But when it comes to retaining those good employees, multiple studies have found that people often leave managers, not companies.
With that in mind: What kind of manager are you?
How not to lead
Recently, I was at an event where we discussed good management practices. As part of small-group discussions, we shared stories of our own professional development journey.
Virtually everyone agreed that the most impactful lessons they’ve learned have been courtesy of horrendous managers who demonstrated precisely how not to lead.
Indeed, many of the most vivid lessons in my career came via my experience with a manager many years ago. Acting like a 10 year old who’d been left in charge of his younger siblings, his priority was reminding us he was the boss. I can only assume he, much like an older sibling, had been chosen for the role simply because he’d been there the longest.
Training? Who needs training?
And that’s the thing. There isn’t always extensive training that occurs before someone is promoted to management. Often, people are promoted because it’s “their turn,” or as a reward for having excelled at performing the tasks in their current role. (Good sales people make good sales managers, right?)
Still others simply skip the promotion process by starting their own business.
What your employees want
So, however you find yourself in a leadership position, take time to consider what makes a good manager. From my perspective—based on both good and bad examples—here are your employees’ three top requests:
- Care about me. Ask about my weekend, my family and my interests. Care about how I’m doing, why I’m stressed and what I think. Take interest in my personal development, not only for the sake of doing well at this job, but at any job I may have in the future. Acknowledge when I’ve done something well, as well as when I’ve done something wrong. Help me to be better.
- Challenge me. Nurture my strengths, but don’t neglect to push me out of my comfort zone. Help me see new possibilities or perspectives. Encourage me to engage in new experiences without fear of failure.
- Stay out of my way. Ever hear someone say “I like to be micro-managed”? Yeah, me neither. So check in, hold me accountable and be available. But let me use my strengths and experience to perform my job and bring you the results.
Cathy Sedacca is director of sales and marketing for Sage Business Credit. She partnered with Karen Turnquist to found Sage because she believed they could do what had been done by others, but better. Working closely with clients who share the same vision for their own business is the best part of her job.