Holding Out for Our Heroes
If you are like the bulk of American business owners, you have discovered that all the donuts and hero banners in the world will not solve this current staffing crisis. And the crisis may not have peaked yet. Reports from Prudential’s Newsroom suggest that 1 in 4 people plan on leaving their current position in the next year, primarily due to burnout and frustration. This means focusing on retaining current staff should be a top priority. We need to do the work of really listening to, empowering, and valuing our employees.
ENGAGE YOUR EARS
Engaging people in conversation and actively listening is one of the most cost-effective ways to retain staff. Cultural Intelligence expert and (my) awesome mom Dr. Amy Narishkin says, “When people and groups don’t feel fully heard, frustration and anger tend to grow… those same people become overly critical of their situation and work from an ‘us versus them’ mindset.” On the flip side, people that feel heard and valued tend to work harder and are more loyal to the person or organization that listens. Dr. Narishkin says the way to create a better workplace and combat frustration is to set aside time to talk with staff and practice active listening.
By actively listening to your employees, you build trust, identify issues, and may come up with unique ideas. A great example of this is the apple pie kettle corn at Missouri’s Silver Dollar City. According to staff, the idea for this top selling product came from one of their front-line employees.
In his book, Love Works, the former CEO of SeaWorld and Herschend Family Entertainment Joel Manby says the next step after listening is to trust and empower employees to participate in decision making and problem-solving. As an example, he describes two vehicle manufacturers: one where decisions were made with employees, and the other where decisions were made for employees. Both factories worked with the same union but experienced vastly different results.
The factory that consulted employees had team members that worked hard and showed up on time.
The other factory had employees that showed up late and drank on their breaks, often not coming back to work.
Manby writes that when people feel included in decision-making, there is greater buy-in, meaning work is done well, and problems are fixed faster.
PROMOTE FROM WITHIN
Some of the best ways to empower your employees and include them in decision-making are to promote from within and provide professional development. In his paper, “Paying More to Get Less,” Wharton management professor Matthew Bidwell writes that in the first two years, employees promoted from within get higher performance evaluations and have an 18 to 20% lower exit rate compared to new hires in similar positions.
Identifying internal people for promotion is also easier with open lines of communication. Leadership experts at Lighthouse suggest that while talking with your people, look for team members that are:
good listeners
empathetic
consistent and accountable in their work
interested in growth
and already leading from within.
From your office staff to your front-line workers, everyone needs validation that they are valuable and have room to grow professionally.
As you look internally for people to promote, ask your staff what skills they would like to develop that would help them succeed at their jobs. According to a survey done by change management consultants McKinsey & Company, only 5% of respondents said their company’s talent management was effective, while 88% of respondents thought professional development was important. By empowering your employees to learn new skills, you’ll develop a cutting-edge team that is generally satisfied.
VALUE IS MORE THAN BIGGIE FRIES
Another big piece is value—do your employees feel it? Last week we used the hospitality heroes, the Harvey Girls, as a benchmark for hospitality. The Harvey House chain of hotels is also a strong benchmark for employment. Every position was treated as a career, not a seasonal job, even though most positions were only 6 months long. Training was available, pay was competitive, and at the end of their contract staff were offered the option to either stay or move to a new location or position.
While promoting from within and providing training are a good start, your company should also consider providing competitive pay, sick days, health care, and paid vacation. Consider this: is it realistic to expect front line employees to provide white-glove service if they have never experienced it? And if you’re known for taking care of your employees, you’ll not only retain staff, but also attract new team members.
THE QUESTION OF THE DAY
So … how does your staff feel? Do they feel heard, empowered, and valued? It’s okay if you don’t know, and it’s a good time to go talk to your team to find out.
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