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Common managerial mistakes that force good employees to leave

April 11, 2017

By Heather Nezich, courtesy of SBAM Approved Partner ASE

It’s hard enough to find good employees, so when you find them make sure your managers are not making any of these common mistakes that drive employees to look elsewhere.  It holds true that employees don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.

Recent research from the University of California shows that motivated employees are 87% less likely to quit.  And Gallup research shows that 70% of an employee’s motivation is influenced by his or her manager.

It’s important to treat employees well.  Be sure that managers are well trained and not making any of the following mistakes:

Overworking Employees
One sure way to create employee burnout is by overworking them.  Be careful not to give your star employees all the work.  The work should be able to be completed in a typical 40-hour work week.

According to new research from Stanford, productivity declines dramatically when the workweek exceeds 50 hours.  In fact, anything over 55 hours per week results in zero productivity gained.  If you do need to increase someone’s workload, be sure to reward and recognize them for it with a raise, promotion, or title-change.  If they don’t feel appreciated, they are likely to look for work elsewhere.

Not recognizing and Rewarding Good Work
Let your employees know when they’ve done something that deserves recognition.  Thank them; tell them they did a great job.  This makes employees feel appreciated and motivated to do an even better job on the next project.

Failing to Develop Employees’ Skills
No matter how talented an employee is, there are always areas to improve and grow.  Don’t allow your employees to become stagnant in their job.  Mentor them, send them to training to hone in skills they would like to improve, etc.  Allowing employees to grow prevents them from becoming bored.

Not Caring About Employees
According to Gallup, 50% of employees leave their jobs due to their relationship with their manager. Managers must be able to balance being professional yet human.  Get to know your employees.  Show empathy during hard times.  Employees and managers spend the majority of the day together.  Managers that fail to truly care about their employees are much more likely to see a higher turnover rate.

Not Honoring Commitments
If you promise something to an employee, it’s important to honor it.  A solid work relationship must be built on trust.  Don’t make promises that you can’t keep.

Hiring and Promoting the Wrong People
Who do your employees work with more than you?  Their coworkers.  Be sure to hire good people – all the time.  Your current employees are the ones who will be working alongside them day after day.  They are the ones who will pick up the slack of bad hires.  Even more important, be sure you are promoting the best people.  Nothing can be more un-motivating than seeing a co-worker get promoted that isn’t deserving.  You should be able to clearly articulate to the staff why that person was chosen for the promotion.

Not Letting Employees Pursue Their Passion
Meet with your employees regularly and find out what their passion is and what motivates them.  Help them to pursue that passion and grow within their position.  Studies have shown that employees allowed to pursue their passions at work are five times more productive.

Not Engaging Creativity
Good managers allow their employees to be creative. They listen and truly consider new ideas.  Limiting creativity limits the growth of the entire department.  Go beyond the status quo and always listen for ideas on how to improve work flows, etc.

Not Challenging Employees’ Intellectually 
It’s important to reasonably challenge your employees.  Goals shouldn’t be too easy, yet also not virtually unattainable.  But they should be challenging.  Set challenging goals and then help your employees achieve them.  Set them up for success.  Attainable, yet challenging goals will help keep employees.  Bored employees leave.

By avoiding these costly mistakes, retention rates will increase and employees will remain engaged and motivated.  With the talent shortage there are always options, so it is important to keep employees happy with you.

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