We have heard this statement over and over “People join organisations and leave managers.”  But is there any truth to it?  According to two different research reports, one reason people leave organisations is due to their manager.  Kenexa research shows that 30% of turnover is due to the manager.  Forbes cite that 37% of top talent is leaving due to Boss’ Performance.

Research conducted by Gallup lends support to the statistics from Kenexa and Forbes.  They go on to quantify the qualities employees want in a manager. The top four are:

1) Managers who show care, interest and concern for their staff

2) To know what is expected of them

3) A role which fits their abilities

4) Positive feedback and recognition regularly for work done well

One of the reasons employees leave is because of their boss.  So, to improve retention, we need to improve manager performance, right? How do organisations improve management performance? Here are a few ideas:

1. Set clear performance expectations.  Your managers need to know that you expect them to be good leaders and that you want them to show their employees that they care, are interested in them, provide feedback and recognition, to provide employees with a job that fits their abilities and that employees understand what is expected of them. 

2. Train your leaders. Offer your managers development opportunities on the qualities and capabilities you want them to demonstrate.  Ensure that the courseware helps your managers apply the training on the job. Remember – your managers will only become good at being a manager if they practice the content in the courses they completed.

3. Be a good role model.  Model the qualities you expect of your managers.

Recent research from Harvard Business School and published in the Harvard Business Review in 2016 does suggest and alternative truth. Their 2016 research concludes that that employees leave both good and bad bosses at almost comparable rates. The flipside of providing people with good managers is that they become strong external job candidates such that they are able to leave the organisation for better opportunities elsewhere. However, the research identifies that there are other long-term and important upsides of good managers in that they create ‘happy quitters’ who offer the organisation valuable information, recommendations, and business opportunities later on. One caveat is that employee goodwill is only retained in those who experience good faith retention efforts when they decide to leave.

If you are looking to develop and support your people managers why not take a look at some of the great titles from Vado, such as:

  • Bud to Boss Toolkit
  • Communication Skills for Managers
  • Create and Manage Remote Teams Toolkit
  • Developing and Coaching Employees
  • Discussing Total Compensation
  • Increasing Employee Engagement
  • Introduction to the Remote Leader Toolkit
  • Management Basics
  • Managing for Success
  • Onboarding New Employees
  • Recognising Employees
  • Retaining your Employees
  • The Stay Interview Toolkit

The Vado range is notable for incorporating an effective action-learning approach within their e-learning modules. Learners are encouraged to undertake “real life” tasks as they progress through the course, to apply techniques and reflect on the outcome. It is “get involved” learning, which helps to support demonstrable results.

View Vado courses here

To get you started, we will be pleased to credit new customers a free initial £200 Vado Single Publisher PAYG purchase which enables you to trial any of the courses in the Vado catalogue. Your order must be placed before 28th September 2018*. This offers you access to any courses of your choice for free!** And remember that we can deliver your free course through your LMS.