Over the years of delivering leadership and management training, one conversation comes up time and time again. Organisations are working hard to recruit good people, only to see them leave within a year or two.
Pay and benefits play their part, of course. But when you dig a little deeper, the reasons people give for leaving usually come back to how they were managed day to day. Did they feel listened to? Did anyone notice the effort they put in? Did they feel they could speak up without it being held against them?
The positive here is that these are habits, and habits can be learnt. In this update I want to share three leadership habits that make a real difference to retention, along with the one thing that holds them all together, which is living your core values from the top down.
1. Listening to your people
Most managers would say they are good listeners. If you asked their teams, you might get a different answer! Listening properly means giving someone your full attention, asking questions before jumping in with solutions, and then doing something with what you have heard.
When a member of staff raises the same concern two or three times and nothing changes, they soon stop raising it. That is often the point where they start looking elsewhere.
A few simple things you can start with:-
• Hold regular one-to-ones and let the team member set the agenda
• Ask “What’s getting in your way at the moment?” and give them time to answer
• Go back to people and let them know what happened with their feedback, even if the answer is “not yet”
2. Recognising achievements
Recognition costs very little, yet it is one of the most underused tools a leader has. If people feel their hard work goes unnoticed, it does not take long before they decide it doesn’t really matter where they do it.
The key is to be specific and to do it at the time. “Well done, everyone” is nice to hear, but “The way you handled that difficult call on Tuesday really helped us keep that client” is the kind of thing people remember.
A few simple things you can start with:-
• Thank one person each day for something specific they have done
• Recognise the effort and the behaviour, not just the end result
• Share good work in team meetings so it is seen by colleagues as well as by you
3. Creating psychological safety
Psychological safety simply means people feel it is safe to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes and challenge ideas without worrying about being embarrassed or blamed.
Where it is missing, people keep their heads down. Problems get hidden, ideas never get shared, and often it is your most capable people who become frustrated and move on. Where it is present, people stay because they can grow, contribute and be themselves at work.
A few simple things you can start with:-
• Be open about your own mistakes and what you learnt from them
• When something goes wrong, ask “What happened?” rather than “Who did this?”
• Invite challenge by asking “What am I missing?” or “Does anyone see this differently?”
Living and breathing your core values
All three of these habits work so much better when they are backed up by the organisation’s core values, and when those values are lived from the top down.
Most organisations have a set of values. Fewer actually live them. If the values are on the wall or the website, but the senior team behaves differently, staff will notice straight away. That gap between what is said and what is done chips away at trust very quickly.
When senior leaders genuinely live the values, it has a knock-on effect right through the organisation:-
• Managers copy what they see from above, far more than anything they read in a handbook
• Everyone has a clear reference point for what good looks like, which makes decisions easier
• Recognising people for living the values reinforces the culture you want to build
• When leaders hold themselves to the same standards they expect of others, people trust that things are fair
A good question for any leadership team to ask themselves is this. If your staff watched you for a week, which values would they say you hold?
How Switch Direction can help
At Switch Direction, we focus on practical, people-centred training that leaders can take straight back into the workplace. Our sessions go beyond the theory and help managers build the confidence to listen well, recognise their teams and create an environment where people feel safe to contribute.
We can support your organisation with:-
• Leadership and management training covering listening, recognition and psychological safety, built around the needs of your business
• Values workshops for senior teams, to help define your core values and agree what they look like in practice
• Ongoing coaching to help leaders embed these habits and keep them going
Get in touch
If any of this sounds familiar, I would love to have a chat.
• Book a free discovery call to talk through the retention challenges in your team
• Ask us about our leadership training and how we can tailor it to your values
• Sign up to our newsletter for more practical leadership tips
You can find out more at switchdirection.co.uk or drop us an email at enquiries@switchdirection.co.uk.