INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS
JOURNAL
Small
Biz
VOL. 26 NO. 48, JAN. 30-FEB. 5, 2006
Leadership
Top employees
don't deserve the 'leased car' treatment
By CJ McClanahan
If you were
hoping to read a column about how to keep your star
performers forever, I recommend you turn the page--this
isn't it.
The
truth is that the majority of your best people will
eventually leave.
So how
do many leaders approach this challenge? Unfortunately, they
treat their people--even their most talented employees--like
a leased vehicle. They try to get as much out of them as
humanly possible, while investing as little as they can
because they know that the lease will eventually come due.
Did
you invest in new tires and brakes immediately before
turning in your last leased car? Of course you didn't. You
ran the vacuum, washed the windows and hoped the dealer
didn't notice the big scratch on the back bumper or the
crack in the cup holder. Why not? And if we agree that our
best employees will eventually leave, why not treat them
like a used vehicle? Why not work them hard until they pack
up and move on?
Other
than the obvious fact that improving the lives of others is
the right thing to do, I believe that there are three key
reasons to treat your top performers like that minivan you
just bought with hopes it will last until your infant's high
school graduation.
--
Investing in your employees will dramatically improve the
overall performance of your company. As motivational speaker
Zig Ziglar says, "People don't care how much you know until
they know how much you care."
If your
best team members recognize that you are just as interested
in them as you are in the bottom line, they will produce
more. Would your top performers be less likely to spend 45
minutes every morning on ESPN.com if they knew that you just
spent $2,500 on a training class that will help them develop
valuable skills?
-- Your
best employees will stay longer in an environment where they
are constantly being challenged and encouraged to improve.
The key
to keeping the most talented individuals as long as possible
is to diminish the powerful effects of the "grass is always
greener" syndrome. One way of doing this is to ensure that
they are continuously asking themselves "Would I be able to
learn all this great stuff somewhere else?"
-- If
and when they do leave, those employees who recognize how
valuable your efforts were to their careers will provide you
with two important benefits. First, they will be more likely
to return and second, they will recommend their peers who
will also tend to be top performers.
Hopefully I've convinced you that investing in your
best employees is not only the right thing to do, but it
will significantly improve your company's performance. Now
the question becomes how do you do it?
As most
leaders will agree, it's not easy. I have heard many
business owners complain that they spent tons of money on
these employees and they still left. Here's why: These
companies have absolutely no idea what their employees
really want or, more important, what training/mentoring
opportunities they need.
My
personal experience serves as a perfect example.
Early in
my career, I worked at a large consulting firm. After my
first year, I decided to sign up for an expensive technology
course that many others with my background and tenure had
completed. Unfortunately, after five days of intensive
training on software development, the only thing I remember
is that there is no way I was ever going to be a software
developer. Six months later I was gone.
Later in
my career, I was approaching the one-year mark with a much
smaller firm. We had recently downsized and had no immediate
budget for training. My supervisor took the time to find out
what skills I thought were most important to help me reach
my long-term professional goals. About a month later, I was
given a great opportunity to manage a sales team and work
under a seasoned and extremely talented individual. I stayed
another three years.
What's
the lesson? You need to find out what your employees really
want.
Most of
the time this will require helping them uncover where they
want to take their careers. Once you understand this,
provide them with opportunities to develop the skills to get
there.
Be
different this year. Get creative. Help your employees
understand what they want and provide them with the skills
to get there--the long-term benefits to the bottom line will
be remarkable.
McClanahan is a business coach with Action
International. He can be reached at 845-9742 or
info@coachcj.com.
