Bob stared at the letter of resignation on his desk. It had been placed there only minutes ago by one of his subordinates.
Disheartened and sighing deeply, he thought,
“How many now?” And how many more?”
Bob rose his chair and picked up the letter. He knew that he would receive the same demeaning, and deflective response from his superior upon delivering the news to her. While Bob was frustrated by the loss of these people, his superior would dismiss it apathetically and seek quickly another “dancing chicken on a hot plate”.
Bob saw the hemorrhage of value in knowledge, experience, and cohesive relationships.
Bob opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled another letter out. Heading to his superior’s office he added his own resignation.
People leave organizations for various reason. Some are good and noble reasons, some are not. For some years now I have observed firsthand and vicariously, those with substantial tenure leave an organization. In some of these it came as a surprise, in others it could be seen clearly. But what astonished me in many of these, was the reason and response. Reasons in those that left, response in them that were left.
Here are three reasons that I found alarming.
“I can’t see any forward movement. I feel as though I am stagnating.”
“This place is becoming too intrusive in my life. There is no work/life balance, and my mental and physical well-being is being affected.”
“I have lost trust in the leadership.”
Not everyone that leaves an organization is chasing after something. Many times they are getting out of, or away from a bad or toxic work environment. As leaders we have responsibility for the environment of our work places. And senior leaders, this should be a red flag! It could be time to leave the ivory corporate tower, and get down to ground level.
A mid-level manager once confided in me that, “I created this mess, now I am going to have to fix it”. Had he listened to the adage, “An ounce of prevention, is worth more than a pound of cure”, then his company would not have suffered the loss of highly skilled people.
Recently I listened to a senior leader talk about the current and future objectives for the organization. He talked strategically at first, then brought it down to where the rubber meets the road. He talked about the recruitment, development, and retention of people. Since he assumed command he has proclaimed two very important principles for the organization.
“Take care of our people.”
“Give everyone the leadership they deserve.”
In these two statements is the answer to recruiting, developing, and retaining experienced, productive, and loyal people. It is time for the senior leadership of organizations to face a truth. It matters greatly who they place in entry, and mid-level management positions.
Rick Ferguson 