Congratulations. If you are here, it is because you want to take some real and practical steps toward curbing your employee turnover and start working on employee retention. The tool we provide uses psychology and self assessment strategies to identify the root causes that may be losing you good performers. Here is a look at the unique and fresh elements of our turnover self-exam. Simply provide your email in the form on this page and you will receive this wonderful and productive tool for yourself and your management team.
This FREE checklist incorporates several innovative and fresh strategies to help managers “trick” themselves into true self-analysis:
1. 360-Degree Feedback as a Reality Check
By inviting anonymous feedback from employees and peers, managers are encouraged to confront blind spots in their management style. This method helps bypass defensive reactions by emphasizing collective, constructive insights rather than direct confrontation.
2. Daily Journaling for Pattern Recognition
The practice of recording and reflecting on daily interactions forces managers to notice recurring behaviors or communication issues. Over time, this reveals patterns they may otherwise overlook.
3. Recognition Audit for Objective Data
The “Recognition Audit” shifts focus from subjective impressions to measurable data, making it harder for managers to justify a lack of employee recognition with excuses like “I’m too busy.”
4. Stay Interviews for Preemptive Insight
Unlike exit interviews, stay interviews encourage managers to explore what is keeping employees engaged or potentially driving them away before they decide to leave.
5. Employee-Led Surveys for Honest Feedback
The inclusion of anonymous surveys and suggestion boxes offers a non-threatening platform for employees to highlight issues managers might not recognize. It’s a subtle way of uncovering deeper organizational flaws.
6. Observation of Team Dynamics
Encouraging managers to watch team interactions without intervening helps them identify unhealthy dynamics or unspoken tensions. This indirect approach allows them to witness the impact of their policies in action.
7. Practical Tools That Make Data Visible
Tools like Officevibe or Culture Amp provide dashboards with real-time metrics on culture, satisfaction, and engagement, helping managers see hard-to-ignore patterns that require attention.
Using Hard Data for Work-Life Balance Analysis
Tracking metrics like overtime and unused vacation days turns subjective complaints into concrete numbers, making it harder for managers to dismiss issues related to stress and workload.
8. State of the Company Report for Transparency
Developing and sharing regular updates on the company’s goals and progress helps managers align their own vision with employee expectations, reducing the chance of miscommunication or misalignment.
9. Personalized Feedback Approaches
By recognizing that not all employees respond to the same type of acknowledgment, managers are encouraged to learn what motivates individuals. This emphasis on tailored recognition deepens connection and trust.
These strategies, developed by workplace psychologists and human resources consultants, leverage objectivity, structured feedback, and behavioral psychology to gently push owners and managers toward uncovering truths about their leadership and organizational practices. Employee retention and employee satisfaction lie just on the other side.
Provide your email below to download it for FREE now!
Free Manager Tool To Evaluate Turnover
This form is for anyone who would like to receive the free tool. It helps owners and managers to identify root causes of turnover and especially to elicit honest self-assessment using unique tools, tips, and psychology techniques.
TOC – Visit our Table of Contents Page for this engaging and dynamic series of informative articles about Employee Turnover compiled by our expert human resource consultants.
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The sources and end notes for the main article, this article, and all of the sub-pages is listed below. All information is used under the Fair-Use.
Flexible work arrangements are policies, practices or informal arrangements that allow employees to have greater flexibility and control over when, where and how they work. Let’s look at whether they fit your company’s needs…
Flexible arrangements move away from the traditional 9-to-5, office-bound schedule to better accommodate employees’ real-life situations and work styles. and promote work-life balance.
The key benefit is giving employees more autonomy to integrate their professional and personal lives in a way that works best for their circumstances and working styles.
Pressed For Time? Watch Our HR NEWS Summary of This Article Narrated by an HR Consulting Expert:
What Are Flexible Work Arrangement Options
Flexible work arrangements can take many forms, but some common examples include:
Remote work or work-from-home opportunities
Hybrid schedules splitting time between home and office
Flextime policies to shift start/end times
Compressed workweeks with fewer but longer days
Job-sharing between two part-time employees
Flexible Work Arrangements vs. Flexible Work Schedules
While often used interchangeably, there is an important distinction between flexible work arrangements and flexible work schedules:
Flexible work arrangements encompass any alternative to the traditional in-office, 9-to-5 structure. This includes arrangements around the work location, like remote or hybrid options that allow working from home. It covers any non-standard schedule as well.
Flexible work schedules, on the other hand, specifically refer to alternative scheduling practices for when and how employees work their required hours and days. This does not necessarily include the ability to work remotely.
For example, a compressed 4-day workweek or flextime schedule providing employees control over start/end times would qualify as a flexible work schedule, even if the work must still occur on-site. Meanwhile, a work-from-home policy is considered a flexible work arrangement, as it changes the location of the work.
The two often overlap, with many employers combining arrangement and scheduling flexibility. For instance, some may offer hybrid remote/office arrangements along with flextime schedules.
But the key distinction is that flexible arrangements deal with the where and what kind of work happens, while flexible schedules focus on when and how the work gets done within set constraints like weekly hours.
Implementing strategic flexible work arrangements and schedules has become an increasingly critical way for companies to attract and retain top talent by promoting greater work-life balance and job satisfaction. When properly structured and supported, these flexibility initiatives can boost employee engagement, productivity and well-being.
A List of Flexible Schedule Options
Here are some of the most common types of flexible work week schedules that organizations can implement to give employees more control over when and where they work:
Compressed Work Week
Compressed Work Weeks With a compressed schedule, employees work their standard hours but consolidate them into fewer days per week. Common examples include:
4/10 Schedule: Working 4 days at 10 hours per day, then taking the 5th day off each week.
9/80 Schedule: Working 9 hours per day for 9 days, then taking the 10th day off (80 hours over 2 weeks).
This allows employees to have an extra full day off every week or every other week while still working their full hours. It can improve work-life balance, reduce commuting time/costs, and give employees a restful 3-day weekend. However, longer daily hours may not work well for some roles or employees.
Flextime
With a flextime policy, employees are given a core range of hours they must be present (e.g. 10am-3pm), but can choose when to work their remaining hours before and after. This provides flexibility in:
Start/End Times: An employee could work 7am-4pm or 9am-6pm, for example.
Break Schedules: They can shift breaks and lunches to accommodate personal needs.
Make-Up Time: If they need to leave early one day, they can make up those hours on another day.
Provide “summer hours” with half days on Fridays. An extra afternoon of personal time refreshes people.
Flextime requires well-defined core hours, but otherwise gives employees autonomy over how to meet their total hours. It helps with balancing personal/family obligations.
Remote Work
Human Resources Consulting Pro Tip: Remote Work Options cut down on wasted commuting time and allow employees to actually contribute longer to their work product. More and more companies are allowing employees to work remotely, whether:
Fully Remote: The employee works from home or anywhere they wish full-time.
Partial Remote: Working remotely 1-4 days per week, and in the office the remaining days.
Remote As Needed: An ad-hoc ability to work from home when obligations require.
Remote work eliminates commutes, provides geographic flexibility, and allows better work-life integration. However, it requires appropriate infrastructure, communication protocols, and performance management strategies.
Job Sharing
In a job share arrangement, two employees effectively split a full-time role, each working on a part-time schedule that allows for personal/family time. For example:
Split Weeks: One works Monday-Wednesday, the other Thursday-Friday.
Split Days: One works mornings, the other afternoons/evenings.
This allows employees to only work ~20-30 hours while still being engaged in their role and career path. Job shares require extensive coordination between partners.
Gradual Retirement / Phased Return
Some employers allow employees transitioning to retirement to slowly ramp down hours over time for a smoother transition. Similarly, new parents returning from leave may prefer gradually increasing back to full-time. For example:
Starting at 50-60% time for a period, then increasing incrementally
Working full-time for part of the year, then taking a partially-paid sabbatical
This gives employees more control over work-life integration during major life transitions.
Be open to unconventional ideas from staff on new ways of working flexibly. Empower them to experiment.
Getting buy-in from managers, properly training employees, and monitoring for any unintended negative impacts are essential practices for successfully implementing flexible work week initiatives.
HR Consulting Pro Tip:
I can’t tell you how many companies, management teams, and individual managers I come across who have real hang-ups about allowing employees flexibility in their work schedules. I recently worked with a small company in which a very competent employee in a very key position had a serious lateness problem. The company wanted to terminate the employee. The specific role requires knowledge and experience and in this particular industry it’s very difficult to fill. It is even harder to find competent practitioners with whom to fill them.
Instead of simply allowing this employee time in the morning by giving her a later start time, or allowing her to work from home on days when she had childcare issues, the company owner was fixated on her attendance being traditional and strictly watched.
Ask yourself, “why?” What benefit does watching the clock or holding an otherwise good employee to a policy they can’t keep? In this case, there was no benefit to the company. It was just a personal feeling of the President that he was being disrespected. He took it as a personal afront. Well, instead of using compassion and common sense to keep a vital employee, he terminated her.
He then spent the next 6 months trying to find a suitable replacement. All the while, the lost productivity and lagging performance from a missing function took its toll. After 2 failed attempts with inferior workers, whom he had to pay higher salaries, he finally split the position into several lower-level positions that now cost him 3 salaries.
Don’t be pound wise and penny foolish with your policies and your enforcement of archaic and unnecessary work rules. Employees today expect more… and they do ask, “why?” If you don’t have an honest and practical reason to NOT be flexible, take advantage of these tools and make everyone’s life better!
TOC – Visit our Table of Contents Page for this engaging and dynamic series of informative articles about Employee Turnover compiled by our expert human resource consultants.
Sources
The sources and end notes for the main article, this article, and all of the sub-pages is listed below. All information is used under the Fair-Use.
All work and no life leads to burnout and high turnover. After studying work-life balance for over 20 years, I’ve seen firsthand how critical it is to employee wellbeing, corporate stability, and business results. But what does balance really mean, and how does it impact turnover?
Work-life balance is about creating sustainable lifestyle rhythms, not just preventing burnout. It’s employees having time for family, hobbies, and rest without compromising performance. And it’s about leaders modeling healthy boundaries first.
Contrary to popular belief, balance actually boosts productivity.
Overworked, exhausted employees burn out and make mistakes. But well-rested teams with full lives outside of work come back energized and focused.
Balance also supports physical and mental health. People need recovery from cognitive heavy-lifting. Time for exercise, relationships and fun recharges the brain. Tired, chronically stressed employees disengage and ultimately quit.
In today’s tight labor market, leaders must enable balance to retain top talent.
Rigid environments where employees compete in a “first in, last out” culture drive turnover. People now seek workplaces aligned with their values and lifestyles.
The companies thriving today motivate with inspiration, not fear. They value deliverables over face time, judge performance on results, and respect employees’ personal lives. Workers give their best in return.
By building cultures where balance isn’t a buzzword but a daily reality, organizations gain that competitive edge. Their people don’t just work hard – they work happy. If you treat employees right, they’ll treat you right. That’s the payoff of balance done well.
Proven ways to promote work-life balance include:
Discourage after hours and weekend work
Model work-life balance in your and other leaders’ behavior
Track vacation days taken, not to penalize attendance, but to encourage and ensure time off. Have HR follow up with employees who ignore time off allowances.
Use performance reviews to proactively discuss balance and how each employee can specifically incorporate it into their work. Make it a criteria they are appraised on and it will make a difference!
Monitor workload and reassign work when trends show too heavy a load
Respect boundaries around personal time. Don’t be a part of the problem for your employees
Promoting balance provides permission for employees to set boundaries. Leaders should hold themselves accountable first. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Employees need recovery time to sustain excellence.
Work-Life Balance: What Really Works
In many cases over the years, I have seen well-intentioned but ineffective lip service to work/life balance. Some initiatives though can truly transform an organization’s culture and improve employee well-being. Based on my own experience and real-world examples, let’s go through some of the most innovative and impactful policies I’ve encountered. Here are some important considerations for implementing each of these work-life balance policies effectively:
Flexible Work Arrangements
The ability to work remotely or have flexible hours (even post-pandemic) remains one of the most powerful work-life balance perk. Companies that allow employees to design their own schedules and work from home as needed see major boosts in engagement and retention. Take Akami Technologies – their “work from anywhere” policy has been hugely popular, increasing productivity while allowing parents, caregivers, and others to better integrate work with life demands.
Look beyond the work-from-home arrangement and think creatively. Job sharing can turn two part-time workers into a powerhouse fulltime contribution. Play with work-week structures.
How It Can Fail:
Micromanaging workers’ daily schedules and locations
Lacking the infrastructure and culture for effective virtual work
Judging productivity solely by “face time” in the office
Allowing miscommunication or lack of team cohesion
How to Do It Right:
Establish clear core working hours for collaboration, but otherwise enable flexibility
Provide appropriate technology, security, and tools for remote work
Train managers on effective management of remote employees
Have team norms around communication and availability when remote
“Communicate consistently that output matters more than face time.”
Pro-Tip: Consider appointing remote work ambassadors – super-users who can mentor colleagues and help establish remote-work best practices.
Paid Parental Leave
Generous gender-neutral paid parental leave signals that an employer truly values families. The viral parental leave policy at Etsy provides 26 weeks fully paid time off to bond with a new child. Patagonia offers 16 weeks at 100% pay, recognizing this critical life transition. Parents at these companies report much less stress and burnout.
How It Can Fail:
Outdated policies with limited time off or unfair gender rules
Paying only partial salaries, undermining the intended support
Making parents feel they have to return to work too quickly
Allowing biases against those who take extended parental leave
How to Do It Right:
Provide gender-neutral leave policies for all new parents
Offer significant time off at full pay to reduce mental and financial stress
Guarantee roles for those returning, with a supportive ramp-up period
Promote and celebrate employees taking this important life opportunity
Pro-Tip: Develop a detailed parental leave toolkit with FAQs, checklists, and guidance to ensure a smooth transition both ways.
Fertility Benefits
A growing number of companies like Starbucks and Microsoft are offering benefits like egg freezing, IVF treatment coverage, and fertility coaching. This supports employees looking to have children while advancing their careers – preventing difficult tradeoffs.
How It Can Fail:
Offering limited or inadequate coverage that still leaves high out-of-pocket costs
Lacking educational resources, leaving employees to navigate it alone
Making the benefits difficult to access or claim
Allowing insensitive comments that make employees uncomfortable using the benefits
How to Do It Right:
Offer comprehensive coverage for IVF, egg freezing, fertility drugs, and other treatments
Provide fertility coaching/education as part of the benefits package
Ensure the benefits apply equally to all employees regardless of marital/relationship status
Promote the benefits openly to destigmatize using them
Pro-Tip: In addition to medical benefits, consider offering services like fertility mentorship programs or subscription discounts to fertility apps.
Relaxed Vacation Policies
Traditional vacation policies are being flipped on their head. Software company Ibotta has “unlimited” paid time off with no tracked days. Meanwhile, LinkedIn forces employees to take at least two weeks consecutive vacation per year. Such policies trust employees while prioritizing mental health breaks.
How It Can Fail:
Having managers that still frown upon extended vacations
Making employees feel guilty or worried about being away
Piling on work before/after vacations, negating the break
Allowing work emergencies to frequently disrupt time off
How to Do It Right:
Truly encourage people to use their allotted vacation days without questioning
Have leaders model good behavior by taking real vacations themselves
Consider “use it or lose it” type policies to prevent endless accruals
Provide ample notice and support for managers to plan around vacations
Pro-Tip: Implement required minimums, not just maximums. For example, LinkedIn’s policy of taking at least 2 consecutive weeks off.
Sabbaticals and Ramps
Surprisingly, giving employees extended time completely off can pay huge dividends. McDonald’s offers a rare 6-month paid sabbatical every 10 years. More common are “ramps” like Deloitte’s, allowing new parents to temporarily work part-time schedules. These creative policies prevent burnout while showing immense goodwill.
How It Can Fail:
Making it unclear who qualifies or how to take advantage of the policy
Not allocating sufficient resources to handle the work redistribution
Allowing managers to discourage or deny requests without just cause
Stigmatizing those who use it, signaling it may hurt their career
How to Do It Right:
Clearly define eligibility requirements and application processes – Publicize the benefit!
Have a plan to cover the workload while the employee is on leave
Offer the sabbatical/ramp as a guaranteed benefit, not something that is at management’s discretion
Communicate it widely as a valued perk, not an accommodation
Pro-Tip: Develop and follow a comprehensive operations plan for how work will be redistributed when someone goes on sabbatical or ramps down. This encourages utilization while preventing the overburdening of co-workers.
Of course, work-life balance is more than just policies – it requires a true cultural shift to overcome hustle mentalities ingrained in many workplaces. But forging ahead with innovative, trust-based initiatives like these can give companies a powerful competitive edge in attracting and retaining top talent.
Watch the video of this Blog Post
This video takes you through the strategies quickly and succinctly.
TOC – Visit our Table of Contents Page for this engaging and dynamic series of informative articles about Employee Turnover compiled by our expert human resource consultants.
Sources
The sources and end notes for the main article, this article, and all of the sub-pages is listed below. All information is used under the Fair-Use.
Gamification: The Secret to Engaging and Motivating Employees
In my previous article, I explored how incentives drive employee behaviors. An emerging technique called “gamification” leverages gaming mechanics to incentivize engagement, productivity, and learning in the workplace. As games motivate players to gain skills, badges, and rewards, gamified work systems can powerfully motivate employees.
Decades of gaming psychology research reveal people are hardwired to respond to gamification. Implemented thoughtfully, gamification strategies can boost employee performance, morale, and retention. In this article, I will define gamification, share psychology insights, provide real-world examples, and offer research-based tips to help organizational leaders maximize engagement and motivation through gameplay elements.
What is Gamification?
Gamification incorporates game elements into non-game contexts like the workplace to drive participation, enjoyment, and loyalty (Deterding et al, 2011)1. Common gamification techniques include:
Point systems – Employees earn points for desired actions. Leaderboards display rankings.
Badges or levels – Milestones unlock credentials and advancement.
Challenges – Participants compete in contests and quests.
Rewards – Game currency can be exchanged for real incentives.
Feedback – Progress bars, notifications, and rankings give real-time feedback.
These game mechanics incentivize engagement through psychological drivers like competitiveness, achievement, status, self-expression, and socializing (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011)2.
For example, a sales rep might gain badges for meeting quota thresholds. A software engineer could level up by mastering new coding languages. Completing leadership training unlocks management role eligibility. Gamification strategically taps into human nature’s innate craving for competition, accomplishment, and reward.
The Psychology Behind Gamification
Decades of research on motivation and engagement reveals several psychological drivers that make gamification so powerfully engaging:
Instant feedback loops – Games provide constant feedback through points, levels, and progress indicators. This reinforcement motivates continuous engagement (Kumar & Raghavendran, 2015)3.
Sense of progress – Small wins and milestones give a frequent sense of advancement and avoiding loss. This meaningful progress keeps players motivated (Mekler et al, 2017)4.
Social motivation – Leaderboards, team play, and social sharing tap into social competition and approval drivers. People are motivated to gain status and avoid social shaming (Sailer et al, 2017)5.
Autonomy & Mastery – Challenges and choice of tasks provide a sense of autonomy. New skills drive mastery satisfaction. These fulfill psychological needs (Morschheuser et al, 2018)6.
Fun & Playfulness – Game elements build in surprise, play, and fun. This enjoyment encourages sustained engagement (Majuri et al, 2018)7.
Neuroscience reveals gamification even activates the brain’s reward system by releasing dopamine each time points, levels, or rewards are achieved (Lopez & Tucker, 2019)8. In short, gamification strategically engages human psychology to drive motivation.
Generational Differences
Research indicates gamification can effectively engage employees of all generations when tailored to appeal to cohort preferences. For example:
Baby boomers appreciate gamification for skill development, with challenges providing meaningful advancement. Badges for expertise and knowledge motivate them (Singhal & Vij, 2016)9.
Gen Xers tend to be motivated by competition elements like leaderboards, as well as incentives like virtual goods or currency. Social networking aspects also appeal to this generation (Ferri-Reed, 2013)10.
Millennials thrive on frequent feedback loops, through notifications, point systems, and progress trackers. They also enjoy social motivations and unlocking achievements (Kovacheva, 2011)11.
Gen Z has grown up with gaming and responds best to highly visual, mobile-enabled gamification. Avatars, virtual worlds, and flexibility appeal to them (Griffiths & Whitty, 2010)12.
Adjusting game mechanics, incentives, and platforms to resonate with multigenerational workforces is crucial for engagement.
Real-World Examples
Gamification initiatives implemented thoughtfully deliver impressive results across industries:
Bunchball gamified Fitbit’s health tracking app challenges. Employees earned points and team rewards for exercising and tracking activity. Fitbit saw usage of their app increase by 70% (Grossman, 2018)13.
Wells Fargo’s new banker training game levels up players through engaging video scenarios to unlock graduation. Scores improved 15% over classroom training alone (Dale, 2014)14.
DuPont’s safety credentialing program had low engagement. By gamifying learning, they increased utilization from 35% to 92% engagement (Ashbrook, 2011)15.
Cognizant added gamified elements to their employee engagement app, including points and digital badges for participation. User activity increased by 46% (Mohan, 2016)16.
As demonstrated, thoughtfully designed gamification initiatives can significantly move the needle on workforce engagement.
Best Practices for Gamification Success
Based on gamification psychology and proven examples, here are best practices leaders can utilize:
Focus on Engagement, Not Just Points
Effective gamification improves meaningful performance like productivity or safety habits (Kapp, 2012)17. Ensure your program incentivizes real work outcomes over simply accumulating points.
Incorporate Intrinsic Motivators
Badges recognizing skill gain and social recognition for achievements can be just as motivating as extrinsic rewards. Gamification done right fulfills psychological needs (Suh et al, 2017)18.
Offer Meaningful Rewards
Redeemable points for experiential rewards or charitable gifts resonate more than nominal prizes (Xi & Hamari, 2019)19. Customize rewards to employee interests when possible.
Consult Employees
Ask workers what game elements would excite them. Giving teams input and autonomy on design boosts buy-in (Johnson et al, 2016) 20.
Simplify Design
Complicated, confusing programs backfire. Keep game mechanics, scoring, and reward systems intuitive (Hyrynsalmi et al, 2015)21.
Monitor and Optimize
Analyze usage data, solicit feedback, and continually refine your gamified approach for maximum impact (Cechanowicz et al, 2013)22.
Avoid Over Gamification
Too many points and badges feel manipulative. Thoughtfully gamify vital behaviors only, and sparingly apply game elements (Bakke & Mitchell, 2018) 23.
Gamification Done Right
Executives may cringe at game terminology, but the psychology and results are undeniable. Avoid gimmicky implementations that feel childish. Instead, strategically gamify work systems to tap into human motivations and drive results. With a thoughtful, integrated approach, gamification can level up workforce engagement, learning, and performance.
TOC – Visit our Table of Contents Page for this engaging and dynamic series of informative articles about Employee Turnover compiled by our expert human resource consultants.
Sources
The sources and end notes for the main article, this article, and all of the sub-pages is listed below. All information is used under the Fair-Use.
Plainly put: you can stop employee turnover and attrition with on-purpose recognition. Recognizing achievements fosters engagement and loyalty. Employee recognition goes far beyond the occasional gift card or plaque. Authentic appreciation that rewards magnificent work should be intrinsic to company culture. Recognition boils down to providing incentives. The key to nailing it is know what incentivizes your people. When you know what motivates them, you can tailor rewards based on individual preferences: experiential rewards for adventurous types, public praise for social ones, etc. Personalization feels more meaningful.
Before we jump into the practical tips (and we have a bunch), I really want to drive home the psychology of incentives and just how game-changing incentives [and disincentives] can be in an organization. Smart employers and HR executives leverage insights from behavioral science like loss aversion, social pressure, and reinforcement to maximize incentive efficacy.
Incentivizing the Right Behaviors in Employees
Research-backed insights are powerful. Findings indicate that strategic incentive programs to reinforce good habits and discourage problematic ones can significantly improve employee performance, engagement, and retention. We will provide real-world examples of successful initiatives, and offer actionable advice for business leaders looking to make a turnaround in their company.
Why Incentives Matter
Decades of studies in motivational psychology and behavioral economics reveal that people are driven by incentives and rewards (Gerhart & Fang, 2014). Both intrinsic motivators, such as purpose and autonomy, and extrinsic motivators, like compensation and benefits influence how employees spend their time and energy at work. While passion and meaning are essential, even the most engaged workers respond to external reinforcement. As the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.
Incentives act as signals – they communicate company priorities and highlight desired behaviors (Oyer, 1998). Providing incentives for certain results tells your team exactly what outcomes the organization rewards.
Rewards tied directly to company values incite alignment with those values.
A bonus for top sales performers motivates closing the deal.
Flexible work arrangements that allow employees to balance life responsibilities inspire a culture that values results over control.
Additionally, incentives drive habit formation. Behavioral scientists find that we are more likely to repeat actions that have positive consequences (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). [well, duh! You might say.] An incentive given each time an employee engages in a desired habit, like submitting expenses on time or attending trainings, reinforces that behavior. On the flip side, penalties for undesirable actions like making late expense reports wait 30 days for payout, can discourage those habits from forming.
Key Principles for Incentive Design
Effective incentive systems align rewards with business strategy and culture. Consider these best practices when structuring your company’s incentive programs:
Incentivize Key Behaviors
The most successful incentive plans focus on 3-5 vital behaviors that drive organizational health and performance. Consider the variables in the examples:
A software firm might reward programmers for releasing defect-free code to incentivize quality. Alternatively, they could incentivize releasing the software ahead of schedule to incentivize efficiency. What is more important to your company? Pro-tip: these can change over time so don’t use a set-it-and-forget-it philosophy with your rewards programs!
A retailer could bonus store managers who meet their revenue targets which would drive sales. Or the retailer could incentivize positive social media feedback to drive customer service. Resist the urge to incentivize every possible positive habit. Instead, identify and reward the vital few that align with corporate goals.
Make Incentives Achievable
Incentive targets should stretch employees yet remain feasible (Locke & Latham, 2002). Impossible goals quickly demotivate, while easily achievable targets don’t provide value to the company vis-à-vis the incentive. To set realistic objectives analyze and use historical performance.
For example, if the last three years saw the middle 30% of your sales force reach 20% increases in theor sales, a 5% goal isn’t going to help your company. But a 40% goal will just frustrate. an 8% increase over last year’s sales figures could incentivize growth without crushing morale.
Reward Consistency
We already talked about creating habits through incentives. Habits form through consistency. Therefore, reward and encourage consistent behaviors and performance. Providing frequent reinforcement for desired actions is more effective than large, one-off rewards (Duhigg, 2012). Bonusing employees annually for high performance is actually less motivating than small weekly or monthly rewards for hitting or exceeding targets. Regular reinforcement reminds employees what matters.
This strategy can also push out employee’s plans. In many companies, for instance, employees wait for their annual bonus and then resign for another job. Smaller, more consistent rewards can keep employees from making big plans because they are always reaching for the next golden ring at your organization.
Get Creative
Monetary incentives like bonuses are effective, we all know this. But you should get creative about rewards too. There is a lot to be said for the unexpected and surprising events in an employee’s reward experience. Surprising rewards feel more personal and memorable.
Public recognition, extra vacation days, choice of assignments, leadership opportunities, selection for business trips, and selection for special trainings are all powerful motivators (Glassdoor, 2020). Unique experiential rewards like luxurious meals out or adventurous excursions can also excite employees.
Pro-tip: Whenever possible, rewards that affect and benefit the employee’s significant other can be an effective psychological motivator. Paid vacations, restaurant gift cards, or invitations to select employees’ families for big company events where the employee will be recognized.
Disincentivize Unwanted Behaviors
Don’t forget sticks along with carrots. Institute real consequences for unwanted actions.
Penalizing undesirable actions is crucial – never just reward the good. You have to have an overall strategy. Institute consequences for chronic lateness, bypassing protocols, or technical work errors. Disincentives demonstrate certain behaviors will not be tolerated. Be cautious though – heavy-handed penalties can breed resentment (Kohn, 1993). Mild, swiftly administered consequences work best.
A word of caution for dis-incentivization: Be careful of what you use as penalties. Adverse employment actions like termination, demotion, bad assignments, etc. can be discriminatory or perceived as discrimination in the wrong circumstances. I may be prejudiced, but I recommend finding a good human resources consulting firm like My Virtual HR Director to help guide you safely.
Praise should still outweigh criticism.
Effective employee motivation requires more positive feedback than negative.
Pro-tip: Strive for at least a 5:1 ratio of praise to criticism.
Recognition gives good employees a sense of value and belonging. Criticism, while often necessary, can discourage engagement. Ensure negative feedback is constructive with a prescribed path for improvement.
Incentivize Good Actors
Avoid rewarding problem performers alongside your star players. Providing the same bonuses to those who barely hit quota as your top sellers breeds cynicism and reduces motivation (Wasserman, 2012). Reserve special incentives and recognition for those who consistently excel. Top talent wants to be valued accordingly.
This may seem intuitive, but poorly designed rewards programs can backfire. Pro-tip: Add multiple performance thresholds to incentive programs. As an example, a disclaimer like this will help: Employees must be in good standing and not on an active performance plan or in a current disciplinary action in order to receive rewards in this plan.
Now let’s explore real-world examples of how leading organizations effectively incentivize employee behaviors.
Turnover Killing Real-World Examples
Incentivizing Quality
Software firms live and die by the quality of their code. Undetected defects lead to costly outages and security issues down the road. MABL, an automated testing platform, struggled with developers taking risky shortcuts under pressure to deliver. They decided to incentivize rigorous testing and review practices with a simple gamified program called “The Hunt for Red Bugs.”Developers earn points for thoroughly vetting code, attending code reviews, and finding defects before release. The engineer who racks up the most points each month wins a $500 bonus. MABL has seen a significant drop in post-production bugs and outages since launching the program (Casey, 2022). Gamification helped incentivize vital quality assurance habits.
Driving Referrals
Referral bonuses are a common practice, but outdoor retailer REI used behavioral science to turbocharge their program. REI analyzed five years of referral data and found employees with the most social connections brought in better candidates. However, introverted staff with smaller networks rarely made referrals.To incentivize all employees to refer quality candidates, REI shifted from rewarding only hired candidates to bonuses for both qualified applicants and hires. Smaller $250 bonuses for successful applicants gave extroverts and introverts equal opportunity to participate. REI also gave referring employees a small gift card whenever one of their referrals was interviewed, further reinforcing the behavior.By incentivizing the simple act of making quality referrals, REI drove a 669% increase in applicants referred per employee (Gallo, 2016). Their program now unlocks the social networks of their entire workforce.
Boosting Training Completion
Technology consultancy CI&T struggled with completion rates for internal skills training programs. While engineers signed up eagerly, few employees finished all modules. Completion was vital for consultants to provide quality solutions to clients.To incentivize seeing courses through, CI&T instituted leaderboards displaying percentage of trainings finished for each employee. The platform allowed employees to check their progress and compare themselves to others. Employees who completed over 75% of trainings earned a “CI&T Certified” designation on their resumes and profiles.Public accountability through leaderboards and social recognition for high completion drove a 37% increase in employees finishing programs (Murphy, 2022). CI&T successfully gamified learning to incentivize vital skill development.
As these examples demonstrate, thoughtfully designed incentives that reward the right habits deliver tremendous value.
Practical Recognition Concepts
Reward the process not just the outcome.
While outcomes are a focus as we have discussed, when designing an employee rewards program, it’s important not to focus solely on outcomes. The process that employees follow to achieve results can also create important behaviors and deserves recognition. Recognize incremental progress to motivate continuous improvement.
Rewarding efforts made along the way, not just end goals met, reinforces desired behaviors. It shows employees their hard work is valued at every step. Small wins should be praised, not just big achievements. This approach to employee recognition can improve retention and reduce turnover.
Values matter to employees
There is a whole new generation in the workforce that accepts jobs based on the employer’s reputation and social responsibility. Don’t overlook values in the workplace.
Pro-tip: Allow employees to reward each other when they recognize your core values in their actions.
Connecting rewards to company values increases their impact. Employees see their work as meaningful when it aligns with core principles. Enable peer-to-peer recognition tied to values. When employees exhibit behaviors that reflect shared values, let them highlight colleagues’ actions. This fosters an ethical culture. It also builds camaraderie and ownership of values. Make it easy for employees to recognize co-workers’ values-driven behavior through online platforms, small rewards, and public praise. Peer recognition programs improve employee engagement and connection to company values.
Manage the rewards process to ensure managers recognize in consistent and meaningful ways.
“As an HR practitioner I have seen too many companies that set up a rewards program and then it never gets used. Public recognition forums are silent and rewards go undistributed for long swaths of time.”
The rewarding process must be standardized across the organization. Ensure managers are trained on giving timely, appropriate recognition. Create clear guidelines on eligibility criteria, nomination processes, and prize options. Then make distribution and use of the system part of the managers’ performance reviews.
Standardization prevents favoritism and inconsistent practices between departments. You should still allow some flexibility on recognition methods to suit different employee motivations. Managers should know their employees best and what motivates them.
Confirm rewards are being utilized and constantly ping managers to do so. Ongoing oversight of the recognition process is key to keeping it fair, engaging and impactful. HR consultants can help design and implement effective employee recognition programs.
Implement These Today
In summary, and based on real research, here are my top practical recommendations for leaders looking to optimize their incentive programs:
Involve frontline supervisors in determining vital behaviors to incentivize. They know day-to-day habits that drive performance.
Use small, frequent rewards rather than occasional large payouts. Consistency is key for habit formation.
Try unexpected, experiential rewards along with compensation. Unique adventures can excite employees.
Use gamification elements like points, levels, competition and recognition to motivate engagement.
Make recognition timely and values-based. Thank employees as achievements happen, tying praise to demonstrated competencies.
Let peers recognize each other. Peer validation often means more than top-down programs alone. Enable grassroots social recognition. Pro-tip: Allow employees to reward each other when they recognize your core values in their actions.
Use rituals and events like awards ceremonies to reinforce accomplishments publicly. But keep programs fun and informal.
Focus on milestones, not just major achievements. Recognize work anniversaries, completed training programs, team tenures, etc.
Get creative. Unique rewards like choosing fun office perks, naming conference rooms, shoutout videos from executives, or mid-week paid time off feel special.
Automate triggers for routine recognitions like birthday messages. Thoughtful touches shouldn’t rely on busy managers alone.
The common thread is making employees feel truly seen and valued. Appreciation strengthens bonds and fuels retention. Recognition done right inspires people to keep excelling and advancing your organization.
Remember, the key is incentivizing habits over outcomes. With the right incentives, your employees will develop the behaviors that lead to desired results. Reward systems that reinforce strategic priorities and core values help focus employees’ day-to-day actions that matter most. The organizational habits you incentivize today become the competitive differentiators of tomorrow.
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The saying “people join companies but leave managers” has many applications and often rings true. Toxic managers destroy morale, performance and retention.
A toxic worksite refers to a workplace environment where there is a negative or hostile organizational culture fueled by disrespect, mistrust, discrimination, harassment, bullying, and other unethical behaviors.
This leads to high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, and low morale among employees.
Common signs of a toxic worksite include high turnover rates, frequent employee complaints, lack of collaboration, poor communication, micromanagement, and no work-life balance. The toxicity permeates relationships and corrodes the structures and processes that are meant to support a functional, productive workplace. Ultimately, a toxic worksite creates psychological and emotional damage for employees, hurting their well-being and negatively impacting their ability to thrive in their roles. Transforming a toxic worksite requires rebuilding trust, accountability, empathy and installing proper policies and procedures to foster a healthy, ethical and caring organizational culture.
Warning signs of a toxic workplace culture include:
Bullying, threats, intimidation or belittling
Favoritism and bias in decisions
Harassment or discrimination without consequences
Resistance to diverse perspectives and collaboration
Self-serving leaders taking credit for team wins
Obsession with rigid hierarchy and controlling information
Lack of work-life balance or accommodation
Discouraging dissenting opinions and concerns
Drawing from our combined expertise in organizational culture, we can tell you that a toxic workplace is one marked by abusive behaviors that degrade employees, destroy morale, and breed distrust. This can happen from any level. Management can be toxic, but more often we see staff and line employees who create a toxic atmosphere for others. Of course, this often stems from poor management that allows the grip of toxicity to take hold. Once rooted, toxicity spreads quickly.
Prevention starts with modeling respectful behavior from the top-down. Leaders must nurture psychological safety by inviting input, acting with integrity, and caring for employees as humans beyond roles. Hiring managers should assess values alignment, not just skills. Formal training builds empathy and emotional intelligence at all levels.
Managers need to practice consistent and effective coaching and progressive discipline.
Don’t allow the little things to slip by you without confronting them. An employee’s poor attitude, disrespect, or rudeness to others is never ok to ignore. Not even once.
It shows other employees that it is not important to you. Use good HR techniques for corrective action and coach bad attitudes up… or out.
Reversing entrenched toxicity requires systemic change, not quick fixes. Based on established best practices, crucial steps include:
Creating psychological safety for those reporting issues. Protect them from retaliation and ensure anonymity if desired.
Imposing consequences for inappropriate conduct, especially involving those in power. Failure to act signals acceptance.
Establishing clear, enforced policies on expected behaviors and reporting channels. No room for gray areas.
Increasing transparency around decisions, finances, and metrics to rebuild lost trust.
Providing mentors and peer support systems for victims of past toxic behaviors.
Seeking input at all levels on desired culture changes. People support what they help build.
Corporate culture reflects leadership priorities. Nurturing an ethical, inclusive workplace requires constant modeling of desired behaviors. But bringing light into dark places lays the foundation for positive change.
Left unchecked, toxic culture permeates the entire company. Employees under toxic management will leave at the first opportunity, increasing turnover. A healthy culture supports diversity, inclusion, growth, work-life balance and mutual respect.
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Empowered employees drive innovation and have higher satisfaction and commitment. Many of the things we have already discussed will add to employee empowerment.
Here is a concise how-to with tips on letting your employees take the reigns in order to grow your bottom line. All the while, raising retention rates and elevating the company’s culture.
What Is Employee Empowerment?
Employee empowerment is when companies give their employees more power and authority to make decisions. Instead of bosses making all the choices, empowered employees get to have input and control over their own work.
Some examples of how companies empower workers are:
Letting employees choose their own schedules or to work remotely
Giving employees control over how they do their tasks, instead of dictating every step
Authorizing employees to set their own goals and track their own progress
Inviting employees to share ideas and the license to make suggestions for improving things
Training employees on new skills so they can take on more responsibilities
Making sure employees have the resources and information they need to make good choices
Recognizing employees’ talents and enabling them to use those talents at work
The idea is to entrust employees like valued partners who have a say in things instead of just telling them what to do. Research shows that when employees feel empowered, they are more engaged, productive, and innovative. It leads to better results for both workers and the company.
What is the Alternative?
Command-and-control has long been the go-to management style for most managers and companies. It involves top-down decision making, close supervision, and a hierarchical structure where leadership holds tight control and employees follow orders. This model emerged during the industrial revolution and was well-suited for factory environments where workers needed to perform repetitive tasks in a standardized way. Unfortunately, it has become the default for most pyramid style organizational charts.
While familiar, command-and-control is actually a poor management approach today for several reasons. First, it stifles innovation and motivation by not allowing for employee input or creative thinking. Second, it creates a lack of accountability where employees feel no ownership over their work. Third, close supervision is demotivating and signals a lack of trust in employees. Fourth, this model misaligns with how knowledge workers operate best. And fifth, command-and-control fails to develop talent since managers provide little coaching or development opportunities.
In contrast, empowering management styles give employees autonomy, enables contribution to decision-making, provides support to maximize talents, and moves from controlling employees to inspiring them.
This fosters higher commitment, innovation and productivity from employees. Research shows that organizations fare better when adopting an empowering rather than command-and-control approach to management.
What Does Employee Empowerment Look Like?
Here is a table contrasting command-and-control management with empowering management styles:
Command-and-Control Management
Empowering Management
Decision-making
Managers make all key decisions
Employees are involved in decision-making
Goal-setting
Managers dictate goals
Goals are collaboratively set with employees
Task direction
Managers direct step-by-step how to do tasks
Employees have autonomy over how they do their work
Communication
Top-down communication
Open communication in all directions
Employee development
Little investment in developing skills
Actively invest in developing employees’ skills
Leadership style
Authoritative, hierarchical
Collaborative, coaching-focused
Risk appetite
Avoid risks and mistakes
Accept risks and mistakes as learning opportunities
Innovation
Discouraged; focus on following set procedures
Encouraged through employee empowerment
Motivation
Driven by incentives and consequences
Driven by intrinsic motivation and engagement
Relationships
Impersonal, lack of trust
Personalized, high-trust
Performance evaluation
Focus on negatives to punish
Focus on positives to enable improvement
The key contrast is that command-and-control aims to dictate all aspects while empowering management aims to provide employees with autonomy, voice, development opportunities, and support. Entrust employees with confidence.
Rather than controlling, great leaders enable employees to drive results.
Strategies to empower include minimizing bureaucratic hurdles that stifle progress. Allow frontline discretion over customer issues within reason. Solicit team input when developing new policies or processes – they know realities on the ground.
Do Not Micromanage
Empowered employees feel trusted versus micromanaged and restricted. Provide access to information and the context needed to make sound decisions independently. Don’t second-guess once you delegate authority. This can be hard. Don’t let compliance or quality slip but do your best to avoid inserting yourself and your style. Entrust your employees with a mandate and then watch them facilitate action.
I once had a director who was a good writer and communicator. I think I’m pretty good too, though; and admittedly so did she. Whenever I submitted projects for her to review however, she insisted on forcing me to change the style to hers. It was deflating and tedious. Unless grammar and message suffer, let your subordinates be themselves in their work.
Allow flexibility in how and where people work. Empower them to take risks and push boundaries, even if some attempts fail. Reward self-starting behaviors that demonstrate initiative and ownership. Give them license to innovate and create then promote that freedom consistently.
Empowerment Doesn’t Mean Unaccountable
Of course empowerment requires expecting accountability in return. Clear expectations around results and decision criteria guide employees without handholding. Honest feedback identifies blind spots. Authorization is the runway and accountability is the guardrail.
When done effectively, empowerment unleashes employees’ full potential. They become invested in the organization’s future versus passively putting in time. Discretionary effort follows trust and autonomy. People support what they help build.
Empowering leadership takes courage but builds loyalty. Employees who feel empowered, not powerless, drive innovation and stick around for the long haul.
Empowerment shows trust in employees’ abilities. But it requires giving up control and accepting risks. Failures should provide learning rather than blame. Creative benefits also boost autonomy, like allowing set hours for innovation projects.
What the Research Shows
A 2019 study published in the Academy of Management Journal found that employee empowerment was linked to higher levels of innovation in organizations. The researchers defined empowerment as involving sharing power and authority with lower-level employees by enabling participative decision-making. The study analysis showed a clear positive correlation between empowerment practices and innovation outcomes (Lee et al., 2019).
Research by Gallup found that only 20% of employees strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. However, employees who did feel their manager focused on their strengths were substantially more engaged and productive (Gallup, 2015). This suggests empowering management is better than a controlling style.
A 2016 literature review in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology concluded that autonomy-supportive management, where managers support self-determined motivation, led to much higher employee satisfaction, commitment, and performance compared to controlling styles (Slemp et al., 2018).
A 2014 study in Personnel Review found that empowering leadership predicted employee job satisfaction and extra-role behaviors much more than directive leadership did. Empowering leadership involves encouraging autonomous decision-making (Amundsen & Martinsen, 2014).
Overall, multiple studies converge on the conclusion that empowering employees through participative decision-making, developing strengths, and granting autonomy is a more effective management approach than command-and-control tactics.
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If you are reading this and you have achieved a leadership role, then you have already been on both sides of the desk as an employee and executive. The key to being a great boss is simple: treat your team how you would want to be treated yourself.
As employees, we all desire growth opportunities, flexibility, recognition, transparency, respect, and trust from our manager. We want to feel valued for our contributions, not just as a cog in the organizational wheel.
From the management perspective, leading people well isn’t all sunshine and roses either. Tough business realities mean sometimes denying requests, delivering hard feedback, or making unpopular but strategic decisions.
True leaders feel the weight of both inspiring their team and delivering results.
The best bosses marry these two horizons by always putting themselves in their people’s shoes. Before handing down a tough mandate, they communicate the context and rationale transparently. When delivering critical feedback, they make it about behaviors, not character, focusing on how the person can grow.
Great managers know who craves public recognition versus private praise. They accommodate work styles while minimizing impact on productivity. And they balance patience with high standards, remembering they started in the employee’s seat once too.
In the end, outstanding leadership comes from a place of compassion. Great bosses treat employees how they would want their own children treated – with kindness, empathy, wisdom and care. Companies thrive when people feel valued in their humanity, not just abilities. Lead by the Golden Rule, and you can’t go wrong.
Great managers retain employees. Here are some other practical best practices:
Frequent recognition, praise and rewards for achievements
Frequent 1-on-1 meetings and checking in regularly on employee engagement and job satisfaction
Protecting team from unnecessary work disruptions
Admitting mistakes without blaming the team
Advocating for the team’s needs across the company
Considering personal needs around schedules and time off
Celebrating team and individual successes frequently
When employees feel supported, recognized and valued by their manager, they stay and thrive. Managers set the tone. The best connect work to purpose, provide growth opportunities, and exemplify the values they wish to see.
It’s The Empathy, Stupid
Remember that old political saying, “It’s the economy, stupid!”? That was a campaign motto designed to keep the candidate focused on the most important thing. Well, manager, for you it’s the empathy!
Put yourself back in the employee’s shoes. You were there once. Just because now you represetnt the company, doesn’t mean that empathizing with employees is a bad thing. In fact, by making employee’s lives happier and healthier, works int eh company’s best interest.
When it comes right down to it, turnover and attrition are about employees not getting what they want. Employees leave because something is not fulfilled in their employment. Don’t be the reason they leave. Figure out what your company, your department, or your subordinates are missing.
Start with known issues like low salaries compared to the market. Then look at the things you know bothered you or mattered to you when you were on the other side of the management line.
When it comes right down to it, turnover and attrition are about employees not getting what they want. Employees leave because something is not fulfilled in their employment. Don’t be the reason they leave. Figure out what your company, your department, or your subordinates are missing.
Start with known issues like low salaries compared to the market. Then look at the things you know bothered you or mattered to you when you were on the other side of the management line. It isn’t hard. Think about what ticked you off as an employee. What silly policies did your former employers put in place that demotivated you to work or motivated you to leave?
Don’t be stingy. All energy needs fuel. Staying power is fueled by good management. So gas ‘em up in every way you can. Happy employees delight customers and produce more. So make employees happy! What is there to lose by giving employees better work-life balance? Any good businessperson knows that you spend $5 to make $10 every time. Employees (as a whole) will be your best investment if you treat them like humans and make them believe that you care about them.
As an example, I have a nephew who is new to the work-a-day world. He works for a mid-sized but successful company. During the holidays, they had a lot of employees taking their paid time off and several others out sick. The owner got upset and felt people were taking advantage. They had a hard time meeting customer needs. So the management team came up with a real winner. They declared a new policy for the upcoming year. The company will close for business the week between Christmas and the New Year. This will set expectations for clients and give employees a break during an important family-focused time of the year. Pretty smart, right?
Nope… They made the policy so that during the week the company closes, employees will use their paid time off. Except that they didn’t increase the PTO allotment by a week, or even a day. They just made it a forced vacation and they prohibited the use of PTO throughout the year. About as inflexible as you can get. They already fired some employees for having taken too much time in the beginning of the year. Guess what this new policy has done to morale. Employees are angry and scornful of management. They feel (and gossip) that management is stupid. Management could have easily achieved the goals of setting customer expectations and providing a break for employees with better results by giving the employees the week off unpaid; while still allowing them to use their PTO on their own terms throughout the year. Better yet, they could have gained loyalty and increased productivity by just giving an extra paid week off during the holiday. But management can’t tell their dollars from their pennies.
Mind Your Metrics
A good way to know if you are (or anyone in management for that matter, is) a good manager is to track your turnover rates. When you see a manager – including yourself – getting consistently high turnover rates, you know something needs a fix. This analysis should account for already high industry, or career, or overall company rates. The metric should be analyzed department by department and manager verse manager.
The “Good” SME
Too many times, whether as an internal HR practitioner or in my human resources consulting; I have seen owners and executives promote a good individual contributor who is a bad manager. The mantra is always that this person is “good.” Fill in whatever you like after “good”: producer, subject matter expert, salesperson, widget maker, etc. Because they are good at the base function of what they do, upper management tolerates bad management and often bad behavior.
That bad management and/or bad behavior causes turnover. Other employees leave because of this person. Now, take what we know about turnover: it has a large cost associated with it. And multiply that cost by the number of employees lost because of the bad manager. Then, subtract the turnover cost from any revenue or profit the bad manager’s “good” characteristics produce. Is it really worth it? Is letting this shmoe ruin your culture worth the loss of good employees?
Well, Now We Know
So, if your turnover numbers are outlying your peers, fix it. Get your management right. We have a ton of good tools and tips on how to do this. If it is another manager whose turnover is hurting your company, shape them up of ship them out. No matter how “good” they are or have been in one aspect, you have to get real with them. They are certainly worth retaining if they can reform their reputation and treatment of others. So invest in them with management training, emotional intelligence instruction, and good ol’ fashioned mentoring. But make it formal and put them on notice that if things don’t change, they will be gone.
Remind them that they need to be the manager they have always dreamed of working for themselves. I think there is a rule about that or something. I think it’s gold.
TOC – Visit our Table of Contents Page for this engaging and dynamic series of informative articles about Employee Turnover compiled by our expert human resource consultants.
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