Good Supervisors Make a Difference

In his book Rethinking Retention, author Dick Finnegan suggests that turnover has such a significant impact on profits that making senior managers accountable for hanging on to "high potential" talent will put the focus where it needs to be -- keeping the right people and reducing sourcing, recruiting, hiring, relocation, training and orientation costs.  He further suggests that a shared-responsibility model for retention can work just as it does for other business functions such as sales, quality, and safety. For this model to be successful, it’s imperative that good supervisors are actively engaged forming the foundation for a solid approach to retention. Would this work for your organization? How would you rate the level of competency of your supervisors?

Finnegan quotes a number of studies that tally the price of turnover in a number of ways. The bottom line: it’s an expensive activity, costing businesses approximately $25 billion annually. To fix the problem, it’s important to understand that turnover impacts every aspect of the organization because we’re dealing with people – and no matter what business you are in, you are first in the business of people. According to Mr. Finnegan, "People answer phones, make sales calls, move products, and make hundreds of decisions every day that impact your customers. No amount of technology will replace the impact of the people you hire, train and then lose or retain." Yes, he’s also talking about the impact of the employee you retain even when they are not good performers.

With so many job seekers in the marketplace, employers who are preparing for the upswing are more selective in their hiring, looking for the very best. Unfortunately, the best may still be working for you and ripe for picking. So what’s your defense? Better supervisors to engage with your employees, especially those you do not want to lose.

The Rethinking Retention Model and Strategies
There are three basic principles to Finnegan’s Model:
Point #1 – Employees quit jobs because they can.
Point #2 – Employees stay for things they get uniquely from you.
Point #3 - Supervisors build unique relationships that drive retention … or turnover.

Finnegan suggests that implementing the following strategies based on these principles will lead to reduced turnover and a new way for the organization to view retention:

• Hold supervisors accountable for achieving retention goals.
• Develop supervisors to build trust with their teams.
• Narrow the front door to close the back door.
• Script employees’ first 90 days.
• Challenge policies to ensure they drive retention.
• Calculate turnover’s cost to galvanize retention as a business issue.
• Drive retention from the top, because executives have the greatest impact on achieving retention goals.

The Supervisor’s Toolkit
In far too many situations technical superstars become supervisors regardless of their abilities to be a good supervisor. That strategy has become obsolete and needs to be replaced. Today a better model connects succession planning and professional development strategies in preparing great contributors to move up the management ladder by ensuring their interpersonal and communications skills, as well as their work styles align with the organization’s values and goals, including goals set for employee retention.

Start by identifying potential supervisors and begin to provide them, as well as your existing staff of supervisors, with training and development experiences to build, modify and strengthen their expectations of the performance success factors involved with supervision. For example, if your organization’s culture values an open, transparent and collaborative approach to projects and you promote an employee with a supervisory style based on a mindset developed while in the military (hierarchical, top down), the result will probably be a direct conflict with what employees are expecting from a supervisor in your organization. I’m not suggesting you not promote this employee, I’m just suggesting that before being granted the promotion he has the chance to understand his current style and the impact he has on others, learn about other management styles and demonstrate his style alignment with your culture, values, and operating standards.

Supervisory training can take many forms: formal classroom, self-study, topic workshops, mentor programs and leadership one-on-one coaching. Individuals already in supervisory roles and those being considered for the transition to supervisor should receive, at a minimum, assistance in understanding the following issues as they relate to the goals and culture of your organization:

1. What is supervision? Usually supervisors are responsible for the functions of: basic management activities (making decisions, solving problems, etc.), hiring, training and development, and ensuring compliance with policies and procedures. Taking on these responsibilities without understanding the dynamics of how they relate to and impact performance, relationships, and profitability can result in a great deal of discontentment in the workplace.
2. Do I have to manage all of this adminis-trivia? Most likely coming from an operational/technical background this can be overwhelming. Supervisors need to know what resources are available to assist them. They also need to understand the legal and strategic reasons administrative functions are important.
3. Why do I need to achieve open and honest communications – isn’t it enough that I said do it? Understanding what his/her communication style is and how that style impacts others is priceless. Most of the problems we see in organizations can be traced back to a lack of communication or poor communication choices.
4. Isn’t HR responsible for finding and keeping good people in this organization? It’s very important for supervisors to realize the significance of the supervisor/employee relationship and the critical role this factor plays in an employee’s decision to terminate. Understanding the shared-responsibility for linking development, relationships, motivation, and performance feedback is important. In addition, just as important is knowing what to do when an employee’s skills and interest are not in alignment with the job requirements.
5. Isn’t there a one-size-fits-all motivation to satisfy everyone’s needs? Learning what motivates each employee and being able to offer positive reinforcement options in recognizing good work is critical.
6. What does my department have to do with Customer Service? Content employees usually deliver better services to their customers. Creating alignment with employee and customer satisfaction could be a meaningful metric.
7. I’m ready to step up from supervisor to manager. At some point in the supervisor’s career there may be interest in moving on to a management position. Start raising the curtain on management challenges and opportunities through a mentoring process to provide a realistic demonstration of what’s expected of managers and to share techniques, tools, and knowledge that will be appropriate as the supervisor assesses his/her preferred leadership style and readiness for advancement

So What’s Next?
It appears a few elements are aligning that may quicken the beat of voluntary terminations:

• Employees continue to report they are "ready to jump" as soon as the right opportunity comes along, mainly because they haven’t seen any growth in their organization in the last year or so and they feel stagnant.
• Employers are beginning to search for "superstars" to lead key initiatives as they prepare to bounce back from the recession. Most often this is being accomplished through headhunters calling on successful prospects who are currently working for the competition.
• Customers are beginning to spend a little more now that they too are feeling more confident about the future; which will result in a greater demand for goods and services in the supply chain.

So what’s next? I’m suggesting that if you haven’t already identified the top talent you want to hang on to that you do it now. Armed with that list and working with upper management and key supervisors, begin dialogues and design motivational strategies to strengthen relationships and commitments to the organization’s goals. Help these employees understand how and why they are a valuable part of the organization’s future, where their talents fit in the ‘big picture’, and what’s in it for them to stay on and grow with the organization. Taking these key steps will help to improve the probability that they’ll recommit and stay to help build the future.

Now is also a good time to begin working with supervisors, all the way to the front-lines, to build their knowledge and skill sets to help you retain the workers you have already hired and trained. Don’t give your employees an excuse to leave.

What suggestions do you have for how to improve talent retention and reduce turnover costs? What’s a strategy that you’re finding helpful? Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts on this important topic.

Situational Leadership