How many times have we come across an article on social media that offers the answer to why employees leave? Often, these articles cite bad hiring at entry level, or poorly-structured work environments as the cause, leaving immediate supervisors and regional managers out of the equation. As a performance coach, I find that most companies don’t recognize the need for additional training in management and leadership.  

If managers and regionals are having issues retaining employees or managing properties that aren’t performing, it’s not always due to bad hiring. Have we considered that many managers and regionals have never learned the skills to excel as leaders? 

The worst offenders are often the most clueless. They don’t understand the severity of their actions toward employees and team members, often to the point of being a liability for lawsuits claiming a hostile work environment. Ever heard the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”? Anyone who has wanted someone they know to attend counseling will understand that if a person doesn’t realize they have issues, it’s extremely difficult for change to actualize. 

So, do we need an intervention? Yes! 

Self-realization is key. It’s difficult to coach people who don’t know they need help. Chances are, systems are not in place to identify employee deficiencies specifically. A yearly performance review is not the way to solve management and employee problems. While it can identify problem areas, a review does not provide solutions to those problems. Your company needs an intervention that identifies issues and teaches the skills needed to heighten the level of communication and leadership within your managing staff. 

Often, we ignore employee issues and place our focus on the bottom line. Yet we tend to forget that turnover is part of that bottom line. Instead of examining why a leasing consultant is underperforming, we list them as a lost cause and let them go. Instead of investigating the claims against management that lead to high turnover rates, we ignore them and focus only on the numbers. As long as the numbers are there, there isn’t much of a problem, right? Wrong. Every day, companies lose valuable employees due to a lack of healthy management. If this is the case, you may want to crunch numbers to find out if this is really helping your company and bottom line. 

The fix is not always easy, but taking responsibility and being proactive in your managerial coaching and employee training will reap the benefits in the long run. Chances are, as a company that does not have systems for training and coaching in place already, you will have to overcome some steep hurdles. These hurdles can consist of a lack of trust, motivation, and knowledge. To begin overcoming these hurdles, your employees will need to know you care about them. Can you, your company, and your managers honestly say to your employees that you are committed to their success? If you can, then you are in a league of few, and we applaud you. If not, there are some things to consider. First, you may want to have all employees, including corporate-level, complete a confidential survey conducted by a third-party. It will give great insight as to what changes need to be addressed first. Once you have an understanding of how company leadership is viewed, you can implement the systems and coaching needed to develop necessary leadership skills. To decrease turnover due to bad hiring and bad team structure, you may consider implementing Talent Insight surveys into your hiring process. This will help to understand what individuals bring to the team and uncover motivators and behaviors. Not only does this build better communication between employees and managers, it helps select the right team member for the right position. 

As a leader, your greatest achievement lies in aiding the success of others. If we can make this happen, maybe we’ll see more articles covering topics like, “Why I stay with my company.” Be the one they run to, not run from. 

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