If you read my What If post on perfection, the question posed was “What if I can’t find good people?” I mentioned in that post that retention is a big part of this question. Really? It may seem odd to look at a question about finding people or even hiring people within a context of retaining people. They are very symbiotic. They are linked together and you cannot have one without the other. Ying-Yang thing.
Let’s de-construct that “can’t find good people” statement. If you have spent any time with me in a workshop, every topic I teach managers speaks directly to what drives a behavioral choice. Think root cause. What is driving or will drive you to say or do that? You see, all things in life have a constant; cause-effect, a.k.a. causality. If I am an owner and I am saying out loud (or even using an inner voice), “I am having an issue finding good people.” I have to ask, why are you looking? Because the “good” part is what is throwing me off. Can you see why? I can understand, “I need people”. Maybe you are understaffed or maybe you are growing your business. But to suggest you need good people, why that? Does the adjective suggest something more than just needing a body?
Consider this, I am a business owner. I have expectations. I want to hire a specific type of employee. Again, in the What If post, perfect does not exist and sometimes when we are frustrated, frantic or anxious, we hire what we can.
Think about it this way, why would someone leave? Why would someone decide this was not for them? Money? That may be the words that come out of their mouth. A fantastic book by Leigh Branham, The Seven Hidden Reasons People Leave opens your mind to the reality – it is not money, it is the manager. If that is the case, how does good factor exactly again? Here is the logic. You need to find good people, presumably because someone left. And if someone left, chances are it was because of you. Are you aware of why they left? Are you aware that while you may expect “good”, you may not be able to define and train “good”? Have you ever been told to do something, but not told how or why? When you did not meet expectation, was it because you weren’t good or just not supported?
What is at the heart of retention is the answer to this question, “What would make someone stay?” Well, just do the opposite from the last paragraph. The only issue is that the focus was that the manager was at fault. Well, the antithesis, or exact opposite would be to be the manager who does not push people out the door. This involves several aspects of how an employee is supported through a series of developmental steps. Call it an employee cycle. It starts with when they are hired and continues with ongoing learning and growth plans throughout their employment. It never stops. Watch out for this spectacular use of grammar, the organization must never not think of ways of engaging the employee and what they need to be successful even if they leave. Huh? Yep. What is worst? Spending time, energy and money developing someone and they leave or not doing anything and they decide to stay…forever.
How does this work for you? It depends (as I so love to say). I cannot give you the formula to force into your organization. Without knowing more about your realities, chances are whatever I suggest as a focused set of answers probably won’t fit. So perhaps a better approach is to provide questions for you to consider.
When you interview, how specific do you make the job? Is it a real description or a regurgitation of the job posting?
When I start the job, what happens in day one, day fifteen, day thirty, day sixty and so on? In other words, do I have a learning and development path lined out?
After my ninety days, what is the breadth of the ongoing development experience? Do you a plan, is it clear and what type of follow-up is in place?
How often do you give feedback and coaching? Is it once in a while, only when needed or a scheduled one-on-one with specific action plans?
Do you recognize and reward often or is the only time I hear from you when I have done something bad and have to be fixed by you?
Do you allow the team to collaborate, brain storm and contribute to ideas, initiatives and how to make things successful? Is stimulation and problem solving part of the job?
What is the definition of employee? To what extent are they given direction and opportunities to grow individually and within the organization?
I left a job. Sorry, I left a manager. I had a successful career and I left it. No need for the details. Was I not “good” enough? Was it not “good” enough? Either way, someone else had the control of how each met their expectation. Makes you think. Does anyone know of a good steak house?