Retention depends on management growth

To retain top talent, a business must take more steps than simply hiring them. Exemplary employees want performance feedback, assistance with their career aspirations, recognition and awards, and an emotionally safe work environment. What position holds the greatest influence in a business to realize or thwart these requirements? Managers.

Mazin and Smith recite the maxim, “people do not leave their jobs, they leave their bosses ((Smith, pg. 76)).” The opposite holds true, that employees will remain in any job with a great boss. But no boss, no manager, begins as the person for whom employees would stay in any job. A business that retains its best employees doesn’t require perfect managers, it requires managers who are growing.

What does a manager who refuses to grow look like? He persists in poor communication, ignores the interests and efforts of his employees, and overlooks problems while a solution is possible.

The employees of a manager who refuses to grow suffer from his poor communication skills. He writes directive emails from the security of his desk, even when his employees sit ten feet away. His directions are often misunderstood, but he makes no effort to confirm that his employees understand what he asks. When they make mistakes because of his muddled directions, he blames them. If he gives his employees feedback, it’s usually several days after the event when a mistake causes him to erupt in anger. “Look at this! Your customer service has been terrible all week, and here’s another example!” None of his employees ever progress because he rarely gives any feedback they could take action on. The employees who stay under his leadership are those who manage to avoid him entirely.

Likewise, the employees of a manager who refuses to grow have their interests and efforts ignored. His employee’s career aspirations are pushed aside because he fears losing a valuable worker. Employees who request time off are routinely denied without explanation, and changes in work availability are met with threats. When his employees give extra effort to complete a project, he gives no affirmation or reward. If asked, he responds, “why should I give you a reward for doing your job?” The few who keep working for him past a year are only present to collect a paycheck. They don’t bother to excel at their work or advance in their career.

Finally, the employees of a manager who refuses to grow will face problems alone. When conflict arises, their manager perpetuates the conflict by avoiding it, diminishing it, or extending it. The personal transformation the manager needs to face conflict is overlooked, and when his employees ask for help he blames them for their situation. Eventually, conflict destroys every member of his team who cares about their work and coworkers.

This insight changes my attitude about my manager. For over a year I’ve been in regular one-on-one meetings where my manager at Relativity points out minor points of communication, usually electronic, and tells me that it’s not up to the standard of service he expects. At first it was irritating, but I felt that he was genuinely attempting to give me critical feedback so that I could grow. After months of this behavior; however, I felt dejected by this constant barrage and the apparent impossibility of improvement. I’ve wracked my brain in the last months to find a way that my manager and I could come to an agreement but, after being out of the office for three months on paternity leave, I was confronted by my manager two weeks in to tell me that his issue with me is that he doesn’t trust me. Although I’ve responded to every piece of feedback given, often under unfavorable circumstances, I now realize that it’s impossible to gain his trust because he has a fundamental difference of perspective and mistrusts my own. While there is much I appreciate about him as a person, I’ve come to realize that my manager isn’t growing at a rate that I can endure, if he is growing at all. My application is to look for a new manager who exemplifies positive growth and to determine whether I might shift to their team.

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