The second most important reason why employees quit organizations is their deteriorating relationship with their managers. HR analysts often cite employee engagement more important for employee retention than salary or compensation.
Why So! – The answer is simple, as one of the call center executives in India told me “You can always go to work with a few buck less in your pocket; but how about facing that devilish manager who always nag without ever uttering a word of praise”
Yesterday, I and one of my uncle discussed un-employment versus employee retention issues in India. This uncle ‘Joe’ owes a small chain of retail outlets in a small town with around 30 employees on payroll. I explained him how companies face trouble in hiring and retaining good employees.
An experienced businessman and a man of wits he told that whether employee stays with business or not lies in the hands of employer or business managers. Employees crave for respect and good behaviors at work much more than the money they need to maintain their lifestyle.
This interesting old Indian Shopkeeper revealed that he has around 70% of his employees working with him for last 12 years. Oh! My god! What a great retention rate in such a small business. I was curious to know what makes it work. His answer was very simple:
Kick Once Kiss Thrice.
He said his model was inspired from the Hindu mythology books which tell that a king must treat his army well and eat only after arranging food for the last soldier. His success mantra as he told me can be useful especially for small businesses and managers:
- Regular Communication with Employees: The key to maintain good relations and keeping a check on employees lies in frequent communication. Problems occur only when employer fails to listen to employees to fails to convey the correct professional message to employees.
- Point out mistake only once a week or fortnight: Employees often commit mistakes, almost daily they will make an error or so, but this is obvious. If employer or manager start nagging employees all the time, all they will do is to try to save their neck. In this attempt they will work sufficient enough to save their job but never giving full productivity at work. It is okay to point mistakes to employees – but not everyday; may be once a week is enough.
- Praise good work more often: Small businesses often pay less as compared to large businesses that not only pay a fat salary but also load employees with perks. While for small businesses it is difficult to do so, nevertheless the pay can be compensated with praise.
The small town successful business man explained me his year old management mantra in 4 simple words 4 words -
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This is great parenting advice, too.