One Foot in The Revolving Door How to keep good people by James Robbins

Meet the Author at the Conference Session 108 Boardmanship-Leading for the Common Good Friday, January 28, 3:00-5:00 p.m. Regency C Hyatt Regency, Chicago Session 127 Follow Me, The Bold Call of Leadership Saturday, January 29, 9:00-11:00 a.m. Regency C, Hyatt Regency, Chicago James Robbins has been studying and teaching leadership for the last 10 years. He is president and founder of The Robbins Group, a consulting firm made up of dedicated leaders who speak on leadership to corporations and associations. James' leadership experience covers a wide area, from managing his own companies, to leading nonprofit organizations across Canada. He resides in Calgary, Alberta Canada with Kelly, his wife of ten years, and their three children.

Remember the days when sports teams had the same players year after year? A player began and ended his career with the same team. Trades were uncommon, and dynasties were built. In some cases fathers could take their sons to watch the same players they themselves had seen play when they were teenagers. Those days are long gone. Take a look at your favorite professional sports team and compare its current roster with the roster from five years ago. Other than a few key players, almost everyone else will be a new face.

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This fact should not surprise us. The ratios of turnover in professional sports are very much in line with the average American organization. Even the best companies today have a turnover rate of almost 20 percent. That's a complete change in employees every five years. A few decades ago, most people were content to remain in their careers for a lifetime. But values have changed. A new generation has entered the workplace, and employee retention has become the hot topic among HR professionals.

The problem of employee turnover has cost untold millions of dollars in hiring and training those who have come to fill the vacancies others have left. Loyalty to an organization is hard to find. The blame for this, however, lies with corporate North America. Through layoffs, downsizing and restructuring - all in the attempt to maximize profits - the message that companies have sent to employees is clear: "We will not be loyal to you." Employees in the park and recreation industry � even those who work for public-sector agencies � are not immune to this prevailing mindset.

Surveys show that employees would like to be loyal to their organizations. They just don't believe that loyalty will be reciprocated. So today, we have people hopping from one career to another, always on the lookout for a better opportunity. Job sites on the Internet have enabled the average person to float his or her resume into cyberspace hoping that a bigger and better fish will come along and take the bait.

What are managers to do? Do we just accept the fact that a revolving door is going to exist, or can we do something to lower our turnover rate? The answer is twofold: Yes, people will change jobs faster than they used to, but also there are things we can do to improve the loyalty of the people who work for us.

The Gallup Organization found that the number one factor in determining an employee's happiness is his or her relationship with the manager. We may not be able to build loyalty to an organization anymore, but we still can build personal loyalties between employees and their managers. There are people who have left great organizations because the manager was impossible to work with, and, similarly, there are many who stay with unsatisfactory operations simply because they love working under a certain manager. I was speaking with a HR manager recently who had an employee say to her, "If it wasn't for you, I would have left a long time ago."

No matter how well we manage, employee turnover is inevitable. But here are a few hints to help you plant a foot in the threshold and keep that revolving door from turning good people out of your agency.

Help Employees Find the Meaning in Their Work

Purpose is a powerful motivator. We want our lives to have meaning. As managers, we need to tap into intrinsic motivation. This is the motivation that causes people to volunteer their time, sacrifice their energy and money for what they deem to be a worthy cause. If you motivate with wages and benefits, you will have hired a set of hands. But if you tap into purpose, you will employ people's hearts.

Most of us find meaning in helping people, in our lives making a difference. This lesson is evident every Christmas morning in households all across America. Little children rip through wrapping paper to expose the gifts left under the tree. They are focused and determined. To a child, can there be any greater joy than opening a pile of presents? Actually, there is. When that child's parent begins to open the uniquely wrapped gift a son or daughter made in school, all attention is concentrated on helping Mom or Dad unwrap the masterpiece. The child is filled with pride and eagerly awaits a sign of approval. And you, the parent - even if you don't know what it is you are now holding in your hand - respond with praise, joy and gratitude. Only then does the child turn back to the task of opening presents. This example shows that it is more fulfilling to give than to receive.

If you can help your employees see that their efforts play a larger part in the lives of others, then you will tap into a deep reservoir of motivation. In the park and recreation field there are so many opportunities to help link purpose to pay check. The young woman planning an arts and crafts program for her community center is not just providing a service. She is enriching the lives of all who take part. Such a program may provide a place for participants to develop new relationships, or perhaps deal with some of the stresses of everyday life. The young man who is building the walking path through a new neighborhood park is not just lifting sod and replacing it with gravel. He is creating a place where people can come to exercise, walk, talk and spend time with their kids.

The problem, however, is that this young man may not see the bigger picture, but tend to view his job as merely shoveling dirt. This is why managers and supervisors must continually remind their workers of the larger picture they are painting.

Invest in Your People and Treat Them as Partners

In today's workforce, people understand they must continue to increase their worth, because they never know when they may be jobless again. The more skills you have, the better the odds that you will find future employment when you need it. The manager faces a dilemma of her own. How much does she invest in someone knowing that he might eventually leave and all of that hard effort put into him will be lost?

People want to grow, and they have a better chance of sticking around when they feel they are growing. As a manager, there are many ways to foster growth. Besides sending people to courses or conferences, one of the simplest and cheapest ways is to give them your time as you pass on knowledge and skills. Instead of just delegating different tasks to your workers, pull them in on your thought process. Show them bit by bit how to run the department. Let them taste a bit of your job. Have them lead staff meetings, deliver presentations or involve them in the goal-setting process. Teach them leadership skills, and take time to coach them in their jobs. When people feel they are learning useful skills and they feel pulled into a partnership type relationship, they are more apt to stick around.

Be the Door Stopper

Keeping good employees will be tough even in the best of times. The best antidote for this problem is a manager who is constantly striving to grow in his or her leadership skills. By helping people find meaning in their work and providing real opportunities for their growth, your roster will have a greater chance of remaining intact, and building a winning team will become a whole lot easier.

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