Will they leave?

It’s the end of summer which for many of us means the end of the slower days of business.  Labor Day also marks the end of a summer schedule, going back to school and business increasing.

Top that with the news that the economy is starting to pick up and more people are finding jobs. Sounds great, doesn’t it! As jobs open up, the unemployed aren’t always the only ones looking for new work – your star employee may also be on the hunt. How do you know if this may happen to you? Here are a few indicators:

• You are a micro-manager
• You don’t know what your best people did on summer vacation
• The door to your office always closed
• You seem to be putting out the same fires over and over again

If you are guilty of even one of these you may be having an employee who is looking for greener pastures. However, if you recognize this, you can change it before it’s too late.  You may not be able to save everyone but the change may make some people reconsider.

Micromanaging. Frankly there is no excuse for this, if you have trained your employees well and are coaching them to find their own solutions which are in the best interest in the company – shame on you.  Give your people the responsibility and accountability – provide deadlines and let them know you will follow up on that date. Then let them work.

Summer vacation. This one may sound strange because what does it have to do with business – everything! This lets people know that you are interested in them as a person and not just as someone on your payroll. Taking a personal interest in the people who work for you will make them happy. Happy employees = happy customers.

Closed Office door. If your door is always closed the message you are sending is “stay away” and “don’t bother me”. Both mean that you are not interested in hearing from your people, customers or vendors.  Guess who makes your business a success – people, customers and vendors.  Listen, ask questions and communicate to foster these relationships for the good of your business.

Putting out the same fires. If the same emergency or problem keeps reoccuring there are two things that aren’t happening. One – you haven’t trained or guided your people to handle the situation. Two – you haven’t gotten to the root cause of the problem to fix it.  Assign it to someone  to investigate and provide a solution. You do not have to do this by yourself.

You have great employees – don’t loose them because you don’t let them because you don’t give them the room or interest to do their job.

Are you worried about loosing your good employees?