Do not lose your good people

Do you know how difficult it is to get good people to work for you?

And do you know how challenging it is to have the same good people remain with you when they are offered better positions and better pay somewhere else and when I say somewhere else I mean your competitors?

To work abroad where the pay is maybe five to 10 times more than you can afford is a no-contest situation but when your good people leave you because you did not handle them correctly, then the fault is yours. And it’s really a dumb thing you did if you allow that to happen.

Some sources estimate that as many as 65 percent of people leaving companies do so because of their managers. We may say that people quit their job or their company, but the reality is that they usually quit their lousy bosses.

We need to remember one thing: the business organization doesn’t do anything negative to the good people who left, it’s the people inside who do.

Leadership is a skill. It is both art and science.

For people who think they are born leaders and never even bothered to improve on their skills are liabilities when it comes to handling people. These are the same people who drive good people away into the hands of their competitors.

And so this is the key: Good people do not leave organizations. Good people usually leave their lousy bosses and I will tell you why.

Most leaders can make a good impression on employees when they first meet. Add to that the optimism people have when they start a new job. They want a new job to work out. But over time, leaders will be recognized for who they really are, not who they are trying to appear to be. If a boss is a jerk, it’s only a matter of time before an employee knows it.

So what kinds of bosses or leaders do employees quit?

Most often they come in four types:

1. People quit people who devalue them. When leaders devalue their people, they begin to manipulate them. They start treating them like objects, not people. Look for people’s value and express your appreciation for them.

2. People quit people who are untrustworthy.

It becomes very difficult to overcome the damage done in a relationship when trust has been lost. Building and maintaining trust as a leader is a matter of integrity and communication. If you don’t want people to quit you, you need to be consistent, open and truthful with them.

3. People quit people who are incompetent.

When leaders are incompetent, they become a distraction to the team. Productivity declines, morale suffers and positive momentum becomes impossible.

4. People quit people who are insecure. People want to work for leaders who fire them up, not who put out their fire.

5. People quit people who are temperamental.

It is easy to spot who these bosses are. They are the same people who are 90 percent temper and only 10 percent mental. They have mood swings and like a tornado the moment they lose their temper the unharnessed energy simply destroys everything along its path.

6. People quit people who are abusive.

“The Devil Wears Prada-ish” boss who makes their people do personal errands in their behalf loses the respect of their people. “Would you please pick up a gift for my girlfriend…” “Please bring my suit to the cleaners……please pick them up for me……” you know what I mean.

As a leader you need to put a high value on those who work for you and those who work with you. This is called true leadership. It takes skills. It takes tools but most important of all is that it takes a heart of service and care.

Here is a cliché: People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Read books on leadership. Attend seminars on leadership but most importantly develop your character and attitude and inspire your people to become better and more productive people too. This is the essence of servant leadership. Let Jesus be your model for leadership.

(Francis Kong will be the lead trainer for the Dr. John Maxwell’s “Developing the Leader Within You” leadership program this Jan. 28-29 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. 632-6872614 or 09178511115). –Francis J. Kong (The Philippine Star)