Untrained Managers could be the reason you have a recruitment and retention problem

Employers know the high costs of recruitment and retention.  “Quiet quitting” and the “War for Talent” remain consistent commentary in HR circles.  But it seems that a Dortmund University study in Germany has once again confirmed what most good HR managers already know - employees leave managers not organisations - by finding a link between destructive leadership and high levels of early retirement and extended sick leave.

Consistent with Safe Work Australia’s identification of the psychosocial hazards related to workers in jobs with high demand and low control, the study found that destructive leadership styles significantly compounded these existing hazards.

One of the easiest ways to manage this issue is to provide specific management training to managers to ensure that they can both effectively and safely manage people under their supervision.  Too often, managers are either unreasonably expected to already possess people management skills when being promoted or are expected to ‘learn on the job’.  Simon Sinek famously advised “if you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business”.  So if you wouldn’t apply such thinking to dealing with something like asbestos or other hazardous chemicals, why are you leaving the implementation of effective and safe management of your people to ‘chance’? 

Action

Train your managers in:

1. self-awareness;

2. understanding different communication and behavioural styles;

3. civility;

4. managing conflict;

5. providing feedback; and

6. having difficult conversations

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