Much emphasis has been placed on employee retention. Is having a high employee retention rate really the best measure of a good people leader?
As a parent, my primary goal is to prepare my kids to leave the nest and flourish on their own. Can we agree that this is a worthy goal?
If so, why do we struggle to have the same expectation in the workplace?
I have always viewed a large part of my role as a manager and people leader to be that of a coach. It is not enough simply to ensure that the assigned tasks are being completed in a satisfactory way. Anybody can look over the checklist and see that items have been ticked off. We should expect more. There should be constant growth.
That means assigning tasks in a way that encourages (or downright forces) people to keep learning. And that means assigning people tasks they have never done. The adage, “Watch one. Do one. Teach one.” comes to mind. We should be pushing our staff to constantly improve.
Eventually, that growth could exceed the needs and/or opportunities of an employee’s current position. And that means a change is warranted to support continued growth.
I say, “Hooray!” That’s good news! Let’s celebrate that accomplishment.
Real leaders, to me, expect this of their people. They anticipate people moving on. In fact, they expect it. They build organizational structure and practices that actively support this. Turnover is cherished.
It’s time that we measure a leader’s effectiveness by the rate of staff leaving a department to go on and do bigger things.
Fly! Be free!