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Behind every stay: How helpful is the influence of managers on employee retention

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Let’s state the obvious. The world of work has undergone a massive transformation globally in recent years. Traditional office-based work models are no longer the standard norm As businesses transition to hybrid work models, the influence of managers on employee retention is even more critical.

Before delving into more detail on the importance of direct managers, let’s first define what we mean by this term. A direct manager is responsible for supervising and managing a group of employees. They are often the main point of contact for employees when issues arise and play a crucial role in ensuring each employee they are managing is working to their full potential.

What are the factors behind the influence of managers on employee retention?

Bridging the gap: One of the key reasons these managers are so crucial is their ability to bridge the gap between employees and the organisation. This role becomes even more essential in a hybrid work environment where maintaining effective communication is vital. They ensure that employees understand the organisation’s goals and objectives, and role and purpose within the company. Regular feedback and support from these managers help employees feel engaged and connected to their work.

Well-being: Direct managers also play a vital role in supporting employee well-being. New ways of working do not remove the legal responsibilities of employers to pay attention to workplace health and safety. Managers are well-positioned to identify when employees are struggling with their workload or experiencing increased stress. They can offer support and guidance, such as providing access to mental health resources or adjusting an employee’s workload.

Team morale: Maintaining team morale is also critical to retention. Direct managers can provide opportunities for team building and socialising. Regular team meetings, social events, and other initiatives help create a sense of community and belonging, boosting morale and productivity.

Development and growth: Encouraging employee development and growth is also essential. Only some people can work from home. Also, some recent studies tell us that those working away from the office can become less visible and may be overlooked for new projects or promotions. Direct managers can overcome the perils of “out of sight, out of mind” and provide:

  • tailored training and development opportunities,
  • guidance in identifying strengths and weaknesses,
  • and direction on advancing careers within the organisation.

This manager role ensures fairness and recognition of course growth for all team members regardless of WFH or not.

The need for organisations to back their managers

However, it’s crucial to recognise that not all direct managers are great managers. Some have been promoted based on tenure and previous success in different roles. Some are simply the last man standing in a team. Research shows that mediocre management is the number one reason people leave companies. Managing people is a complex task, and the complexity is further amplified in a hybrid work environment. Therefore, businesses must provide support and resources to direct managers.

Just as dentists require specialist tools to treat patients, managers need the right tools to lead and support their employees effectively. You may be curious about our range of practical, customised tools to help your managers succeed. As a first step, why not try the assessment yourself here to see what it looks and feels like?

How to measure values alignment to strengthen your organisation

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It doesn’t matter whether you’re a small family business or a large multinational; values alignment is at the heart of an organisation’s culture. A strong set of values can help build a positive work environment and foster:

  • trust,
  • integrity, and
  • accountability.

Values provide a sense of purpose and direction to clients, stakeholders and employees. Both are vital to you as a business, identifying business identity and as an individual. Values represent your inner voice reflecting your morals, scruples, and integrity. They are what you stand for. They are the personality of your business, which in turn affects your decisions. So, what you do and how you do it; your culture.

Importance of values alignment

Most business owners and leaders proudly feature the organisational values:

  • on their websites,
  • in job advertisements, and
  • during company presentations to stakeholders.

While your company’s values define your culture, how can you be sure that everyone in your team is on the same page? Think back to when you experienced a situation where you were required to compromise your values. How did you feel about it?

For most people, it makes them uncomfortable, and they struggle to reconcile the differences.

But why should we be bothered if not all employees align with corporate values?

Aren’t values just a guide?

After all, it’s not like they are a government regulation!

Values and company culture are important because they significantly impact the success and longevity of a corporation.

Leaders should be concerned. Your culture, the heart of your business, can quickly become a liability if the core organisational values are not accepted, embraced, and practised by every team member in your company. A lack of alignment by team members with your values can interfere with the ability of your business to deliver its strategic goals. As a result, this position can negatively impact the overall productivity and success of the organisation.

Team members must align with organisation values to avoid misunderstandings, miscommunication, and a lack of trust among team members. Without solid values, alignment can lead to:

  • reduced morale,
  • decreased motivation, and
  • lower levels of job satisfaction.

It can negatively impact the overall performance of the team and the organisation as a whole.

Current methods used to measure alignment at interview

Discussions about values often come up during the interview process. And most hiring managers have their own approach to checking alignment. This approach may include:

  • articulating the organisation’s values and their link to operations,
  • asking the candidate about their decision-making process, or
  • inviting them to state their interpretation of the organisation’s values.

No matter what questions you ask, it’s not an objective measure. Especially given that research for SEEK shows that almost half the candidates say they haven’t been sincere in their interview.

You could flip a coin as you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right. If you fail to verify alignment, the issues arise months after the employee joins the team when it’s too late.

Therefore, it is critical to understand which values align with your vision of the company.

Values alignment and cultural measuring tools are essential for organisations to assess the potential candidates’ values and cultural fit. By using these tools, organisations can identify candidates who share the same values and beliefs as the company, leading to:

  • increased job satisfaction,
  • higher levels of employee engagement, and
  • better overall performance.

Additionally, values alignment and cultural measuring tools can help to reduce turnover and increase the likelihood of a successful long-term employment relationship.

Objective information will inform your decision

Our flexible values alignment assessment solution scientifically measures more than 13 different values, so you can choose which ones to include for your organisation. We start by benchmarking values alignment in your business. Then you compare potential candidates to determine a “fit” for your company.

Typically feedback we receive from our clients says:

“The flexibility of the tool is impressive. It has helped us hire people who fit as we can develop custom benchmarks and assessments that measure our precise role requirements and ensure alignment with our values.”

 

“GR8PI has improved our hiring success and reduced employee turnover by 76%.”

When values align, employees are motivated, engaged, and committed to the company’s success.

To learn more about our values assessments, email with “values” as the subject, and we will be in touch shortly.

 

 

Five ways of reducing the risk of dropping employee retention

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Rate of Employee Retention

Employee retention is no doubt a key challenge. A recent study by Gartner states that the rate of employee turnover is likely to be up to 75% higher. And in addition, it takes 18% longer to fill any available jobs than pre-pandemic. Not to mention the annoying “quiet quitting” phenomenon, which is white-anting businesses too!

And the reasons why staff retention is affected?

The main reasons employees are leaving and affecting employee retention are:

  • inadequate salary,
  • deficient perks and benefits,
  • overworked,
  • lack of support,
  • career progression,
  • better work-life balance,
  • absence of recognition, and
  • unhappiness with management.

What can you do?

Whether we are trying to shift a few covid kilos or improve our qualifications doesn’t matter. There is never a single magic bullet. It’s usually a series of conscious actions and the discipline to implement them that results in the outcome we seek.

 

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

– Lao Tzu

 

Let’s start from the very beginning

Getting back to the basics by reviewing your people processes is a perfect place to begin to improve staff retention in your organisation. Here are a few thought starters.

#1 Realistic Position previews

The talent competition is fierce and at an all-time high, so your recruitment process needs to be engaging, timely and professional. How you or your team handle the recruitment process can strongly influence the desire for a new player to choose to join your company or not.

Research shows that providing applicants with a realistic job preview during the recruitment process positively affects the retention of those new hires. Selling the job or the business as Utopia is not a good idea.

#2 Professional interviews to increase employee retention

When it comes to interview questions, “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” or “sell me that pen” are way past their use-by date. The objective of the initial interview is to confirm that skills and abilities align.

The goal of the second or final interview is to confirm fit. Is the applicant a good fit for the job? Equally important is for the candidate to verify if the job is a good fit for them.

It’s a lot less costly to retain people than hire new staff, and with retention as key focus, you need objective information to de-risk the selection process. Tools like our customisable psychometric GR8PI assessments will give you these critical candidate insights— insights that are impossible to glean at an interview.

#3 Socialise and onboard for retention

Early failure is often high among new employees, and hybrid work has added further complexity.

Onboarding aims to help your new team member understand how to be successful in their new job. First impressions count: you have one chance to make a great first impression when an employee starts with your company.

So, it’s best to ensure you have strategic onboarding and assimilation processes that can quickly help new people become embedded in your business and the role. And therefore, more likely to stay. Possible approaches here include:

  • shared and individualised learning experiences,
  • formal and informal activities that help people get to know one another, and
  • assigning experienced employees as role models or mentors for new staff.

#4 Managers are key to minimise staff turnover

Those first few weeks and months in a new employee’s job are critical, especially in the new hybrid world. A first-rate manager-employee relationship is vital in delivering the employee experience and connection to the business for retention.

Compounding the challenge, many managers have never received any formal people management training. Frequently, a person has made it to manager due to tenure, success in their previous role, or the desire to retain a person.

While these may be valid, today, managers need access to new tools to lead and manage their employees. Such tools help them foster career aspirations, well-being, and connection to the organisational culture.

#5 Training and development to improve employee retention

CFO to CEO: “What will we do if we train them and they leave?”

CEO to CFO: “What if we don’t and they stay?”

This conversation rings true today more than ever.

But not just any old training works. Sending your people to a one size fits all training course is just wasting money. Everyone learns differently, and unless you fully understand what training is appropriate for each employee, you will not achieve the outcomes.

A gap analysis can clearly highlight the specific deficiencies. Our customisable GR8PI suite of dimensions helps you identify gaps. By enabling you to benchmark and compare your staff at a glance, you can customise the thorough training needed across the various groups.

 

Elon Musk says, “Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster”.

 

If you’d like some help in this area, please reach out or book a call to learn more.

Looking to hire? First build a positive Workplace Culture

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As workplace culture continues to evolve while we slowly resurface, it’s easy to blame the pandemic for this disruption. Add the “great resignation” or whatever it’s called now, and we have plenty of excuses.

If you’re a business that has tried to recruit someone over the past several months, you are undoubtedly familiar with how difficult it is to find top talent.

According to the ABS, in May 2020, 6.5% of businesses reported at least one vacancy. By February 2022, this was the case for 23.5% of businesses. Unemployment is at 4%, the lowest rate since 2008. So it’s a challenge to find top talent in a tightly competitive market.

A survey by Glassdoor tells us that 77% of respondents said they would consider an organisation’s culture before applying for a job, and 70% said they wouldn’t bother applying for a position if they felt the company’s values didn’t align with their own.

Given this, perhaps it’s a good time for organisations to critically look at their workplace culture and make sure their house is in order first. And ensure company culture is not contributing to their hiring and retention woes and costs.

So, what is the culture in a workplace? 

Great question. There are many definitions varying from the look and feel of the work environment to whether the business provides ping pong tables and fresh fruit for staff every day.

Workplace culture examples in action might be, should we speak up and tell the boss that the latest sales strategy will result in a train wreck. Or should we keep our mouths shut in fear of being “decapitated” for suggesting such a thing? If we make a mistake, is it considered the “end of the world” or a learning opportunity?

A fish rots from the head down, and so it is with workplace culture. When your workplace culture isn’t prioritised by leadership, it’s reflected in each employee’s:

  • performance,
  • productivity, and
  • retention.

 Are you playing to win or playing not to lose?

Many businesses tend to look only at the monthly profit and loss as indicators of success. But it’s equally important to focus on your employees and how they experience working in your company.

Caring about your customers and their experience with your business is a waste of time if you don’t care about your employee’s experience. Employee experience is directly linked to customer experience.

A well-designed employee journey allows your people to understand their value to your organisation. Your employees feel cared for and are set up for success during their employment.

If your company hasn’t conducted a culture audit in the last two years, it’s a good exercise to undertake. Culture audits can vary, although they can be as simple as asking employees what’s going well and what’s not. An audit can involve using some of the great software tools in the market that help analyse this.

Sounds expensive! How much does organisation culture change ‘cost’?

Organisation culture doesn’t usually have a line item in the P&L, so it’s not tracked or measured. Any activities that lead to a positive workplace culture tend to pay for themselves.

The benefits of a workplace culture that supports its employees can mean:

  • a higher rate of retention,
  • lower recruitment and re-recruitment costs,
  • diversity happens more organically, and
  • productivity goes up.

Any increase in productivity goes straight to your bottom line.

No time like the present

A business is more likely to benefit when its culture focuses on the way employees view the company. And with significant change more recently in employee views and preferences, workplace culture may need to change.

There isn’t any “one-size-fits-all” culture that makes every employee happy and productive. But paying attention to what is achievable will pay off “bigly” for your employees and business.

Risky recruitment

Attracting the right talent, the best fit for the job and your organisation’s unique culture can be very risky. There’s lots to consider. For example, you need to determine whether your potential new hires, managers, and team can work together. And work together from various locations.

To do this requires deep knowledge of their personalities, strengths, weaknesses, interests, work styles, competencies, and abilities. Our next-gen technology and solutions will do this work for you.

Why not make contact and learn more about our psychometric assessments so you can make an informed decision?