Work | Things I've said...
How to build loyalty in your consultancy team
Design Week
Loyalty has to be a two way street and there are no guarantees when it comes to the crunch. Some employees will stay with an employer through thick and thin and others will move if the grass is greener. Dare I say it, the Cashley Cole v Ryan Giggs model. Both great players, both playing in top teams under fantastic managers but one made the dash-for-cash and one devoted his career to one club. Why? Could either club have acted differently and had a different outcome?
I had over 25 years as an MD in the creative industries and have spent the last six years acting as a non-exec observing different management styles. There is no doubt that some directors are better than others at creating a bond with staff. According to many reports a lot of individuals are biding their time and waiting to jump ship as soon as green shoots start to appear. They will have been observing the way their colleagues have been made redundant and many of them will have taken pay cuts to help their business through the recession. Very few companies have escaped completely but the way they will have communicated with staff may have been very different.
So how does a business retain loyalty and avoid losing its best people whilst dealing with financial chaos all around them? I believe that if they were consistent in their approach to dealing with staff before the recession they should be in a strong position to keep them after this one becomes a distant memory.
If a company builds up an emotional bank account with staff they will be in a much better position to retain their loyalty through the tough times. Much of this comes down to using common sense, and because it isn't something you can learn at university or doing an MBA not all senior managers find it easy to build a genuine rapport with the staff who report to them. I don't remember reading any books on management when I was working full time but for those for whom managing people does not come naturally help is now available.*
One description is that we all have a metaphorical bucket inside us. When it's full we feel great. But this bucket can be drained and it does leak! One simple, highly researched question to every member of your staff will identify immediately how full their collective buckets are! The question is . . . . . 'Have you received praise or recognition for good work in the last seven days?'
However before you do this it's worth spending some time thinking about the roots of this question. If you don't think that this is important, you need to think again because the evidence is overwhelming! One of the few positive outcomes of a recession is that it forces us to reconsider our practices and it might even be quite therapeutic and help us get things into perspective.
Praise and recognition mean different strokes to different folks. Some of your staff will appreciate you patting them on the shoulder and giving them a genuine thank you or "well done". It has to be honest and given at the right time because insincere praise is even worse than not giving it in the first place. For others it might be asking them if there are any courses that they would like to go on to help them with their progression. Knowing when your staff have things going on in their lives (marriage, divorce, illness etc) means a lot to people and makes them feel valued when the boss asks about things not relating to work. In a larger company you will need key managers to keep you informed but make a point of asking them every week. Also ask which staff have been working long hours or weekends, it's amazing how often the bosses are not aware how conscientious many of their staff are and if it gets taken for granted too often the bucket starts to spring leaks.
Great businesses have a culture that ensures recognition of the value of each staff member. 70% of people leave managers rather than leaving businesses. All companies should have regular reviews with staff and many of these things will be picked up during those chats and dealt with in a timely fashion. Relying on HR to manage relationships with staff is a poor substitute. A boss chatting with a member of staff for 5 minutes is worth months of feedback from HR.. Some bosses realise the value of putting money behind the bar and taking the team out to thank them for hard work. It's worth it.
The bottom line is to encourage honest, consistent, grown-up communication with staff, even if you are giving them bad news. The best managers succeed by being accessible and gaining staff respect through consistency.