Zenger | Folkman

PRESS RELEASE

 

The Great Exodus: Upturn of Economy Signals Employees to Leave

Leadership development experts at Zenger Folkman give the top 8 leadership behaviors managers can use to increase employee retention when job market improves.

Salt Lake City, Utah (January 13, 2011) -- In 2010, the employee relations arena saw record low levels of absenteeism and employee turnover, but for many organizations, employee satisfaction and engagement declined. This suggests that many organizations have simply postponed the day of reckoning when turnover will again become a serious issue, damaging a firm’s performance.

In normal economic times, higher levels of employee dissatisfaction meant higher turnover of valued employees. But the last two years were anything but normal. Ask any dissatisfied employee why they are not quitting and you will no doubt hear, “There aren’t any good jobs out there.”

Training industry thought leaders at Zenger Folkman have tracked over 220,000 employees on “intention to leave.” Before 2010, Zenger Folkman found 29.4% of employees from various organizations were thinking about quitting. Though turnover rates in 2010 were down, intention to leave remained the same. As the job market recovers, pent up frustrations, inability to fulfill career aspirations, boredom and immobility may send a record number of people out the door.

The major concern is it’s the high performers who leave. What can be done to help retain top performers?

Zenger Folkman has confirmed through research what others have observed. People generally do not leave an organization, they leave their manager or supervisor. Therefore, each leader can have a tremendous impact on an organization’s ability to retain high performers. Based on Zenger Folkman’s 2010 data, there are eight leadership behaviors that would do the most to retain high performing employees.

Need to pull rather than just push - Most leaders know how to push harder for results but it is critical that leaders also know how to inspire and motivate their direct reports. Inspiring others starts by leaders having an emotional connection with others.

Provide a clear, compelling vision – Leaders who regularly reinforce the vision and direction of the organization along with clarity about the how each individual job is contributing are much better at holding onto their best performers.

Positive relationships and trust – High performers will leave managers they dislike or distrust. Productive relationships can be substantially impacted by a manager’s positive versus negative comments, the optimum ratio being 5 positive for every 1 that is re-directing or suggesting change.

Growth and development – An employee who goes to work, performs a job and collects a pay check has a job. A person who goes to work, performs a job, collects a pay check but develops new skills has a career. Manager need to find ways of making work a developmental, and thus rewarding, experience.

Stretching and improving – Employees are more satisfied and engaged when they accomplish difficult, challenging tasks. What ultimately what makes people happy is success and achieving stretch goals. Manager need to find ways to setting stretch goals that are difficult but achievable.

Create a winning team – Most people have belonged to a team where everyone wanted to be part of that team and the performance of the group raised their performance. Many have been on teams that were full of conflict or where people were looking for ways to get out of work. A positive, energized team makes a huge difference.

Courage – Creating an environment where people want to stay and contribute often requires the courage to make difficult decisions.

Be a role model – Expecting others to be positive and to do the right thing while not doing those things yourself never works. Managers need to be role models. They need to be consistent in their behavior. Everything they do makes a difference. Their mood communicates either positive or negative emotion to other employees.

Leaders utilizing these behaviors can profoundly impact an organization. In 2010 leaders who were at the bottom 10% in terms of their effectiveness on these eight behaviors had 46% of their subordinates who were thinking about quitting their jobs. Leaders who were at the top 10% only had 16% thinking about quitting. Every leader can make a significant difference in employee retention by improving their use of these eight leadership behaviors.

Zenger Folkman

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