Losing Good People? Maybe YOU are a Bad Boss.

Bad leaders have bad employee retention.

For decades we have known that management practices correlate directly to employee engagement, retention, and loyalty. We have also known that employees leave bad bosses much more frequently than they leave bad companies.

While ineffective leaders come in many shapes and sizes, the ones with the worst employee retention and productivity statistics consistently fail in three key areas:

1. Hiring good fits. Bad leaders hire people like themselves instead of people who will thrive in the specific culture and role. Successful leaders consistently select competent people for their team, ensure that potential new hires receive a realistic job preview before they accept, and make sure that there is a strong cultural fit before making an offer.
   
   
2. Ensuring targeted assignments. Good managers proactively ensure that their people get to work on projects that are a good fit with their strengths, abilities and interests while providing the resources required to succeed. Bad managers react without matching tasks with competencies, capabilities, or desires.
   
   
3. Clarifying, supporting and recognizing achievement. Bad leaders have vague expectations, leave direct reports to sink or swim, and ignore professional growth and development desires of their people. Effective bosses recognize good work, know how their employees like to be personally rewarded, set and communicate clear performance expectations, dismiss underperformers who do not improve quickly, provide timely feedback, and help to accelerate careers.