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5 Proven Ways to Make Employees Never Want to Leave

Recruiting the right employees is a time-consuming and important process. Hiring the right people is critical to the organization achieving its goals. But what happens when a new hire shows up for work? How can you make sure your star candidate becomes a happy, dedicated employee who never wants to leave?

I’ve learned five keys to meeting new employees’ expectations and keeping them engaged on the job.

“How Can I Help” Leadership

Command and control is old-school; servant leadership is the new school of management. To improve retention, throw out old dictatorial practices and focus on how leaders help employees achieve their goals. Rather than tell people what to do, the servant leader looks for ways to remove obstacles that prevent people from succeeding.

As an executive servant leader, I dedicated at least 50 percent of my time each week meeting with people to understand how they did their job and what they needed to achieve their goals more effectively. I always took notes and made a point of following up to report on what actions I had taken as a result of their input.

In addition, every month I held “bear pit” sessions where I invited key employees from various functions to come together and “have at me.” They asked bold questions and I answered, unaccompanied by my support staff. To say that these sessions were grueling would be an understatement but I quickly learned how people were feeling in my organization and what was needed to enhance their engagement.

Regular Performance Feedback

Everyone wants to improve, and if employees don’t get constructive performance assessment on a frequent basis, they feel abandoned by the organization. They have no idea what they need to do to improve and as a result feel that no one really cares about helping them do a better job. Employees who don’t get feedback leave for an organization that has employee performance management hardwired into its culture. Show your people that preparing employees for future opportunities is a priority for leadership.

I held each of my direct reports accountable for conducting regular performance reviews with their reports; it was a key element in their performance plan and their annual bonus depended on how well they carried out the task.

Career Development Plans

Every employee needs a specific plan for how they’ll learn new skills and get exposure to new opportunities. Leaders are responsible for making sure every employee has a detailed career plan, including potential lateral moves that could enhance their long-term potential.

One way I measured a leader’s effectiveness: looking at how many of their employees moved around to new positions in the organization in order to expose them to new challenges. The effective leaders made it a priority to proactively move their people around; the mediocre ones never did and as a result had short tenure in my organization.

A Personalized Culture of Engagement

A culture isn’t created by corporate programs. It’s defined by everyday personalized acts of leadership. No two people can be engaged in the same way, hence the problem with a single engagement program that is forced to fit all individuals. Instead, a leader can create a personalized culture based on how they interact with each employee every day.

My calendar was full of one-on-one conversations with individuals in my organization. Those conversations made it fairly easy to understand how I could help them identify more strongly with the goals of the organization.

Fair Compensation

The most obvious way to retain employees is to satisfy their basic needs: pay and benefits. Without those fundamentals, it’s difficult to attract people through the recruitment process and to hold them if they take a position with you. You must be at least comparable to your competitors to play the game.

Standout organizations with incredible retention rates invest heavily to both discover individuals who align with their vision and values and to build a culture that encourages them to stay. The leader who wants to retain loyal employees makes it an everyday priority. Focus on these five practices and not only will your retention rates improve, your peers will look at you as the organization to watch in the field.

Servant Leadership: Real Accountability Is Investing in People’s Lives

In business, accountability is often viewed as meeting quarterly goals, and other activities designed to maximize returns for stakeholders and shareholders. But there is another, deeper view of business accountability. It’s when you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and, as uncomfortable as it may be, hold yourself accountable for your behavior and how your actions impact others. As servant leaders, we are held accountable for our behavior.

I often meet CEOs who are interested in servant leadership. They usually think they’re already showing their teams that they think of others first. But when I ask them what servant leadership means to them, I usually get responses like, “we don’t have any reserved parking spaces at our company,” “we have quarterly employee gatherings to celebrate our success” or “we have training programs in a wide spectrum of subjects.”

I rarely hear how the company is investing in the lives of its employees. I rarely hear leaders talk about helping their employees through the messy unfolding of personal events that impact their performance at work.

Make an Impact on Young Adults at Work

In my keynotes, I often share why servant leadership is so important in today’s world. I talk about the “bookends” of life, with young adults at one end and those facing death at the other. Several years ago, hospice nurses were asked about working with patients who are in the last season of life. What do they talk about the most?

By far the most frequent topic of discussion is their regret that they didn’t live their lives as the people they wanted to be. They lived their lives to be the person who would be accepted by others. In our world today, we value being accepted by others — how we look or dress, and how we talk or behave. In some cases, we spend time trying to impress people we may never meet again.

At the other end of the spectrum are our young adults. Sometimes, we call them emerging leaders, Generation X or Y. There is convincing evidence today that many of those who have graduated from college and are now in the workplace are looking for a change in their work life. When asked why, they shared that they incur debt to go to college, where they’re taught how to take tests, how to dress, what to say, and how to prepare resumes — but no one asks them what they want to do, what they’re passionate about, or what their gifts are.

As leaders, we need to accept accountability for these young adults’ plights. We are not helping our employees live better lives. But, we can change this through holding ourselves accountable to new leadership behaviors.

‘Behave Your Talk’

We’ve all heard the phrase “walk your talk.” At Datron World Communications and the Servant Leadership Institute (SLI), we believe we need to change this phrase to “behave your talk” to reflect the new mindset that is necessary to change the status quo.

New behaviors put the leader in a new light, with a new level of accountability. We need help to make this change in our behaviors. We need help from those closest to us, those who know us best. Do you have an accountability partner or group? Do you ask them to hold you accountable for your behaviors? We at SLI challenge you to reflect on what type of leader you are. If you’re truly a servant leader, you’ll be accountable to someone in your life for your behavior.

When you view your role in your job and in business as being accountable to and responsible for others, you’ll have a whole new perspective. You’ll find meaning and purpose in what you do. You’ll also find your leadership motives are aligned to help others, which ultimately serves the entire organization.

It’s a journey you’ll be glad you took when you look in the mirror every day.

#WorkTrends Recap: Servant Leadership in the Modern Workplace

Art Barter, who founded the Servant Leadership Institute and is the CEO of Datron World Communications, began his journey when he wanted to infuse Datron with servant leadership principles but couldn’t find adequate materials. Today, everyone at Datron gets trained on servant leadership principles.

During this #WorkTrends, we discussed the core of servant leadership and how it is all about motives. What Art told us is that Datron’s servant leadership definition is “to inspire and equip those we influence. To inspire people”, Art says, “you have to care about them.” Art pointed out that even power is different in servant leadership because it is shared.

“As CEO, I know I need to serve everyone in the organization, and I imagine inverting the orginational chart to remind myself of that.”

Another great piece of wisdom that Art told us was that the most important thing you can do is give your employees a vehicle to live your organization’s purpose. We discussed the qualities Art looks for in new talent. He said he’s learned not to look for competence first, but for character.

“We spend more time looking at the character of a  leader,” he said. “If a leader comes in talking about themselves rather than the people who will be working for them, that’s a sign.”

We think that makes for a pretty great organization. Thanks, Art, for this perspective on servant leadership.

Here are a few key points Art shared:

  • People are looking for purpose in their lives
  • Confidence level in our businesses and government is historically low, according to Gallup
  • Change doesn’t happen through words; it happens through leadership actions
  • When you turn an organizational chart upside down, the CEO sees all the people he or she has to serve
  • Hire for character first, competence second

Did you miss the show? You can listen to the #WorkTrends podcast on our BlogTalk Radio channel here: http://bit.ly/2C47mK6

You can also check out the highlights of the conversation from our Storify here:

Didn’t make it to this week’s #WorkTrends show? Don’t worry, you can tune in and participate in the podcast and chat with us every Wednesday from 1-2pm ET (10-11am PT).

Remember, the TalentCulture #WorkTrends conversation continues every day across several social media channels. Stay up-to-date by following our #WorkTrends Twitter stream; pop into our LinkedIn group to interact with other members. Engage with us any time on our social networks, or stay current with trending World of Work topics on our website or through our weekly email newsletter.

#WorkTrends Preview: Servant Leadership in the Modern Workplace

Did you know If you enter “servant leadership” into a search engine and follow the Wikipedia link, the very first line of the definition is sourced from the Servant Leadership Institute, which was founded by this week’s guest, Art Barter.

The definition of Servant Leadership:

Traditional leadership generally involves the exercise of power by one at the ‘top of the pyramid.’ By comparison, the servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Servant leadership turns the power pyramid upside down; instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. When leaders shift their mindset and serve first, they unlock purpose and ingenuity in those around them, resulting in higher performance and engaged, fulfilled employees.

That all sounds good, right? As we know, though, changing an organization constrained by traditional leadership isn’t as easy as saying, “let’s do things differently.”

This #WorkTrends chat will give an overview of servant leadership and how it can improve employee retention, engagement, ambassadorship, innovation, and collaboration. It will help us learn to invert the “power leadership” model and enhance individual growth, teamwork, employee involvement and satisfaction.

Join #WorkTrends host Meghan M. Biro and her guest Art Barter, author of many books, including Farmer Able and founder of the Servant Leadership Institute, on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, at 1 pm ET as they discuss great how organizations can pursue servant leadership principles and create productive, collaborative workplaces.

Servant Leadership in the Modern Workplace 

Servant Leadership in the Modern WorkplaceJoin Meghan and Art on our LIVE online podcast Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 1 pm ET | 10 am PT.

Immediately following the podcast, the team invites the TalentCulture community over to the #WorkTrends Twitter stream to continue the discussion. We encourage everyone with a Twitter account to participate as we gather for a live chat, focused on these related questions:

Q1: Why is servant leadership so important in the modern workplace? #WorkTrends (Tweet this question

Q2: What behaviors do true servant leaders display in the workplace? #WorkTrends (Tweet this question

Q3: How can proper servant leadership improve workplace culture? #WorkTrends (Tweet this question

Don’t want to wait until next Wednesday to join the conversation? You don’t have to. I invite you to check out the #WorkTrends Twitter feed and our TalentCulture World of Work Community LinkedIn group. Share your questions, ideas and opinions with our awesome community.

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You don’t Have to be Charismatic to be a Remarkable Leader 

Most people think of leaders as being charismatic. These are individuals who are constantly in front of the troops. Shouting encouragement and cheering them on.

The “out front” leader plays an important role in an organization, but there is another type of leader who lurks behind the scenes that deserves special mention because they are actually more effective than the “testosterone leader.”

This is the behind-the-scenes leader who sees their raison d’être to create an environment for people to achieve remarkable things and to personally flourish. They place the priority on determining what people need to do their jobs and responding accordingly.

Seven Tasks that Make the Behind-the-Scenes Leader Remarkable

  1. Cleaning up the messes. Things constantly go wrong in any organization. They always have and they always will because of unexpected events or because of unintended human or technology glitches. The behind-the-scenes leader makes it a priority to fix things FAST rather than spend a whole lot of time finding blame. They realize that strategic progress is made only if normal activity can return to normal state as soon as possible.
  2. Bashing barriers. Removing obstacles that prevent people from effectively performing their role is important for your employees and company’s success. Rules, procedure, and policies can get in the way of people doing their jobs and it is critical they be cleaned up quickly. This cleansing process is a vital enabler to organizational performance and is a top priority of this “quiet” leader.
  3. Telling stories. Motivation is stimulated through telling a story that paints a picture of what success looks like in the trenches. It’s all very well to explain in formal terms what is expected but it is quite another to describe what success looks like in qualitative terms using rich language, visuals, and examples with employees acting out the script. This leader uses the power of the story to move people rather than relying solely on traditional motivation methods to achieve the end.
  4. Preparing the environmentEnsuring a comfortable state of readinessso that people are “leaning in” to what is expected of them without distractions. If workplace details are not attended to they appear as irritants to people; performance suffers. This leader treats favourable hygiene factors the basis for success.
  5. Recognizing performance. Catching people “doing things right” and coaching others when expected behaviour is not demonstrated. The behind-the-scenes leader spends a copious amount of time walking about the workplace, observing what people are doing, assessing what they see relative to the strategy of the organization and intervening either to applaud an employee or coaching them to do things differently.

It’s the little things that add up to delivering either amazing results or falling short; this leader gets it.

  1. Clarifying roles in execution. The individual’s role in executing the organization’s strategic game plan is put under the magnifying glass by this leader. Specifically, what THEY need to do in their position to support synergistic implementation of strategy is spelled out in detailed granular fashion. In addition, performance criteria are provided to every employee so they know exactly what is expected of them.

This leader knows that if direct line of sight isn’t provided between the organization’s strategic game plan and the role of each employee, execution fails and expected results are not achieved.

  1. Playing Dick Tracy. This leader is on a mission to get to know people on a more personal level; to learn their wants and desires. They understand the power of a personal connection with people in terms of fostering trust and a willingness to strive higher levels of performance. And they don’t forget what they learn about people.

They keep a mental file on what they discover to inform them on future decisions affecting the assignment of people to key projects.

Standout leaders do not have to shine in the spotlight. They don’t have to be on stage performing so that everyone will see them and pass on their disingenuous adulation.

They quietly focus on taking care of the little things that make their teams perform remarkably.

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One Simple Thing Every Successful Leader Has

I have never espoused that there is a silver bullet for leadership; that there is one single trait or attribute that distinguishes a remarkable leader from others.

Rather I have ascribed standout leadership to many little things that are practiced with relentless passion and consistency.

That said, I do believe that to be a member of the leader herd, and qualify to be considered a standout leader, you must posses a particular trait.

You must make the move from “it” to “them” – from thinking about the job simply as one of creating vision and values to realizing that the job is all about satisfying the wants and desires of humans.

From “that” to “her”or “him”.

Am I over simplifying the dichotomy?

Not really.

Check out the writings on leadership and discover that the pundits promulgate leadership roles like creating vision and values, allocating resources, task delegation, strategic planning, communications, performance management and on and on it goes.

These are “its”.

They are inanimate subjects reeking with an intellectual aroma.

They are subjects that some believe you must master if you are to claim the tag of leader.

I agree that a leader needs to have access to the expertise in these areas and know enough about each of them to know when they are being hoodwinked, but I would NOT agree they need to have a granular understanding of them.

There is another area, however, they DO need to understand intimately.

To get into the leader herd a person must forsake the “its” and be an expert on “them” – human beings.

If you can’t pass the human being test, you should not be allowed to enter the gates to the leader herd.

Here are 7 ways to spot a “them” person:

  1. They have a following of devout, loyal and maniacal fans.
  2. They say “we” a lot. It’s a natural expression when they describe what gets accomplished. “Them” get the praise and the accolades for doing amazing things. The leader is content to stay in the shadows quietly enjoying the moment.
  3. They ask “What can I do to help?”as they walk around the workplace, seeking opportunities to make peoples’ jobs easier – removing internal roadblocks and bashing barriers are priorities.
  4. They use the telephone over email and texts to communicate with others. Body language is hard to read over electronic media; they like the personal touch to accurately read “them”.
  5. Their FEELINGS dominate their intellectual filter. “What is right for others” is the beacon that attracts most of their attention.
  6. They know names. You can’t be a “them” leader without knowing the names of people in your tribe. And they make a special effort to know something special about each of them.
  7. They explain things in simple terms, knowing that spectacular performance requires employees to completely understand what their role is in executing strategy. They leave complex language and big words to the “its” to lose themselves in.

“Them” people have THE key trait to be a successful leader; “it” people are stuck on concepts and principles and will never separate them from their peers.

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Motivate Your Team to Deliver Excellent Customer Service 

It’s one thing to declare that providing top notch service is your strategy to outdo the competition, but it’s quite another to actually do it and do it consistently.

These 5 steps will help achieve your goal.

  1. Create your service strategy. Effective and remarkable service delivery requires a strategic context that everyone understands at an intimate level.

The service strategy defines how people and systems will “behave” in front of the customer. Without a strategy, inconsistency occurs as employees define “excellent service” their own way.

In addition, your service strategy must differentiate your organization from your competitors in some way; a “me too” plan effectively executed will provide few benefits.

  1. Determine no more than 3 service performance metrics to track on your strategy. If you select too many statistics to try and manage, employees won’t be able to separate the critical results from those that are less important.

Use external customer perception as the basis for deciding what measures to focus on as opposed to internal measures which the customer may not feel are important.

What are the top 3 aspects of service THEY think are critical?

Also ask your frontline what measures to pay attention to. They deal with customers all day and know what’s important to them.

  1. Post service performance results boldly throughout the workplace. Employees must be aware of how well the service strategy is being executed.

Celebrate achievements and recognize service heroes. Coach individuals when results are underperforming.

  1. Incorporate the service objectives into everyone’s annual performance plan. If service results don’t impact how individuals are rated and paid, they are not treated as an important aspect of the job.

They don’t get attention; service results fall short of expectations.

And review results with each employee on a quarterly basis to keep the service priority “alive”.

  1. Morph your managers into servant leaders whose top priority is to help make service delivery easier for employees.

“How can I help?” should be the mantra of the leadership team who make it THE priority to look for ways to reduce job complexity and to eliminate the grunge that prevents service delivery personnel from performing their role flawlessly.

Excellent service doesn’t happen by serendipity; it results from a meticulous and well crafted plan, focused effort and a servant leadership culture built on helping people do their job.

Anything short of this will, at best, deliver spotty service and disengaged employees.

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