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It’s no great secret: everything is now different. The way that the world was before the pandemic is now just something that exists in our memories. The world that we are now living in very different. As our team members spent a year (or more) working from home, they discovered that there are other jobs at other companies out there that they might enjoy working at. This means that as managers one of our new responsibilities is finding ways to keep the team members that we have. The good news is that this can be done, we just need to learn how to go about doing it.
How To Keep Your Team Members
All managers know that it’s no secret that their team members want a good salary and a solid benefits package whenever they can get them. But thanks to the Great Resignation that has been going on, providing dependable income and quality perks won’t cut it anymore. On the contrary, most serious managers are already offering some version of compensation that can at least compete within their industry. But, with the pandemic pushing so many team members to self-reflect about their employment and fight back against the one-sided nature of work relationships, it’s important for managers to go even further. We need to know what we can do in order to both hire and retain team members going forward.
Managers Need To Find Ways To Turn Team Members Into Owners
As a manager, it’s all too easy for compensation to start feel like little more than the business throwing money at team members. This is especially true with so much of the process now being automated. These days, direct deposit makes each payday a less-than-splashy event. In the modern workplace, third-party benefit software providers make it easy to manage things like healthcare plans and a 401(k). The end result of all of this is that it takes away a lot of the pizzazz that used to make these particularly effective at cultivating team member loyalty and thanking them for their hard work. What we need to realize is that one way to turn disconnected employees into invested ones is by finding ways to offer a perk that will make them become owners. Offerings like employee stock programs have a long track record of success in the U.S. At some companies they have become a key form of compensation, but employee stock programs should probably extend beyond Silicon Valley. If properly implemented, an employee stock program doesn’t just offer a nice perk for your team members. It can also invite them in as owners who are invested in the success of the company.
Managers Need To Fight for Your Employees
As a manager, you are going to have to be willing to show your team members that you’re willing to fight for their welfare. There are many ways that you should continue to demonstrate that you’re on your team members’ side. This is important for you to do because it helps tear down the barriers that can naturally form between an employee and an employer. Rather than coming across as the heartless manager that is trying to get every ounce of worth out of your workers, you need to create retention strategies that focus on one simple mantra: fighting for your team members.
Managers Need To Find Ways To Help Employees Develop
Another area of concern for many modern employees is the need for them to be continually evolving. In the world of technology, in particular, advancements drive rapid business change, team members and managers alike must be ready to adapt at a moment’s notice. For team members, the risk of falling behind can be a deciding factor in how successful their career is. The median tenure of an employee under the age of 34 is 2.8 years. This paltry number means if an employee falls behind in their field, even by a few months, it can make it difficult for them to land their next job. Managers can alleviate this concern by actively helping their employees maintain their edge. Investing in your employee’s professional development is a key element in earning their trust and loyalty.
What All Of This Means For You
As a manager, if you are not careful, you just might lose your team members. The pandemic sent everyone home for a year and this caused everyone to start to reconsider what they really wanted to get out of their job. Managers are now in the process of dealing with a large number of the people who work for them starting to look for new positions. If we want to be able to keep our team together, we’re going to need to be able to find ways to hold on to the people who work for us.
One of the most important things that a manager can do is to find a way to turn their team members into owners. If we want them to remain with the company, then they need to feel as though they have a vested interest in the success of the company. Managers also have to be willing to show their employees that they are willing to fight for them. You have to prove that you are on their side. Finally, everything changes. Managers have to show their employees how they can develop in order to be ready to deal with changes.
The members of our team will always be getting offers to go work for other companies. If we don’t take steps to make sure that the job that they currently have is the job that they want to have, there is a good chance that we’ll lose them. However, if we take the time to understand what they are looking for and then take the steps that are needed to provide it, we can keep our teams together.
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World IT Management Skills™
Question For You: What’s the best way to let the members of your team know that you’re willing to go to bat for them?
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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time
Managers are responsible for how their team is performing. The big question is if a member of your team is not performing up to your standards, why aren’t they? Our gut reaction is to assume that they are not up to doing the work. In some cases this may be correct. However, it turns out that it is far more likely that the reason that a member of your team is not doing well has to do with you. Specifically with how you are communicating with them. If you are willing to change, this might change how well this team member performs.