Leadership Improves Employee Retention

While researching my book The Solutions Oriented Leader, one fact became apparent. Ultimately, great organizations understand that leadership improves employee retention, and the reasons are consistent across every industry we studied.

Employees do not want to work for a pushover. Similarly, they do not want to work for someone who lacks values or direction. Instead, our research indicated that employees crave structure, integrity, and vision. Simply stated, they want solutions oriented leaders.

Therefore, it makes sense that strong leadership directly improves employee retention. If you want to keep your best employees from leaving, one of the most effective things you can do is show them strong leadership. Sounds simple, but it is not. In fact, great leadership is not something you discover overnight, and it cannot be boiled down to five or ten easy steps.

With that said, you need to start somewhere. Below are six areas to focus on to build your team and establish yourself as a solutions oriented leader.

6 Areas for Leaders to Focus on to Build the Team

1. Start asking for ideas. Specifically, solicit feedback from your team members. Challenge yourself to actively seek out new perspectives at least once daily. You do not have to act on every piece of feedback you receive. Instead, simply letting employees know that you hear them matters.
2. Look at your company's mission statement. Spend time thinking about what it means for your practical, daily actions. Then, reiterate it to your employees, and make sure your team shares a sense of mission.
3. Give employees more responsibility. Specifically, give them autonomy without micromanaging or looking over their shoulders.
4. Invest in coaching, either by becoming a mentor or by asking someone to be yours.
5. Get a leadership performance review. For example, ask some of your top employees for honest feedback on your leadership style.
6. Focus on integrity. Ask yourself how well your actions line up with your stated values. Then, look for ways to put words into action a little better.

The Biggest Hurdles to Effective Employee Retention

Employers and HR representatives pour countless hours into each employee, grooming them, training them, and turning them into integral members of the team. But sometimes, just when a good employee becomes a superstar, they leave for a different company. As a result, you are back at square one.

Why Retention Feels So Frustrating

If that is not the most frustrating part of team leadership, it is high on the list. Nevertheless, you probably do what you can to enhance retention, though the hurdles are numerous.

It Starts With Hiring

The first big hurdle to employee retention is bringing on the wrong employees in the first place. Specifically, team-building starts with the hiring process. Therefore, if you are recruiting employees who are a bad fit, do not be surprised when they do not stick around.

Are you experiencing a lot of employee turnover? If so, that may mean it is time to reflect on your hiring standards. Specifically, make sure you have clearly defined job descriptions and a clearly articulated company culture, and hire with both in mind.

Employees Want Training

Another hurdle to retention is hiring employees who quickly realize they have no clear way to advance in the company. Employees want to know you are investing in their career development, and there are a few things you can do about it.

First, check in with employees regularly to talk about their career goals. Additionally, be open about possible avenues for advancement. Offering training shows your employees that you care about their development, and that you are investing in them over the long haul. As a result, it is a message most employees genuinely appreciate.

Invest in on-site training options at your company. It does not need to happen every day, but it should happen routinely. For instance, computer training, marketing seminars, mentorship programs, and trips to outside seminars are all ways to make this happen.

Communication Is Everything

Another hurdle to retention is lack of proper communication. Employees want to know they have an open dialogue with leadership, or at minimum with HR. Therefore, keeping those channels open matters.

An open-door policy helps. However, a more formal step is implementing an annual review process and taking it seriously. This is a clear way of showing employees you have an ongoing interest in them. Consequently, employees are more likely to stay with a company where they feel supported, so make sure you are approachable.

What About Benefits?

Often, however, the biggest hurdle to retention is simply money. You want to offer enticing benefits and competitive salaries, but the budget does not always allow for it. That is when you need to get creative with cost-effective employee benefits, like flexible scheduling, work-from-home options, and professional development events.

"Employees don't quit their jobs. They quit their bosses. If people start leaving in waves, it isn't them. It's you."

Boost Your Employee Retention Without Breaking the Bank

What are some cost-effective ways to keep your employees on the team? First, start by reminding yourself of that principle above. Then, focus on prevention rather than damage control. Ultimately, you want to invest in retention before it becomes a crisis, as affordably as you can.

Affordable Ways to Invest in Employee Retention

Be the best. Allow your employees to feel like they are playing for the winning team. Specifically, focus on your company's competitive advantage, and share that in your mission and values statements. As a result, employees know they are working for a company that is special.

Offer metrics. Your employees want to see that their hard work is accomplishing something. Therefore, run reports and provide data showing that their efforts are paying off, and encourage them to keep going.

Be inclusive. When you make inclusivity and diversity a cornerstone of your business and company culture, you increase employee retention, productivity, and your ability to attract the best team players.

These are, admittedly, preliminary steps. Nevertheless, following them shows your employees that you are proactively becoming a better, more solutions oriented leader. That, in turn, pays off in the form of stronger employee retention.

About Dr. Rick Goodman, CSP

Dr. Rick Goodman is a Certified Speaking Professional, six-time Global Gurus Top 30 Leadership Expert, and author of five books including the Amazon number one bestseller The Solutions Oriented Leader. He has delivered more than 2,000 programs across all 50 states and 32 countries, helping organizations build the leadership behaviors that improve employee retention.

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