Leader retention and keeping the top leaders in your organization can be challenging. It is a highly competitive market for top talent. In today’s environment, it can be challenging when leaders leave.
Leader retention, what you can do.
You can impact this problem when you follow these seven best practices.
- Ensure leaders clearly understand what is expected of them and what is considered good performance in their role in the organization. When leaders doubt whether or not they are meeting expectations, they might seek other opportunities.
- When leaders have a clear vision of their career path, they are more likely to stay. When leaders are striving for something and making progress toward their objectives, they are fully engaged and will be more likely not to jump ship.
- Leaders will stay when they feel their immediate supervisor cares about them and has their best interests in mind. A leader who feels their manager will work to help them develop for future opportunities is more likely to stay on board.
- Leadership transitions are enhanced when they occur. Leaders with a relevant, quality development path are more likely not to leave. They feel like the organization is investing in them in preparation for opportunities in the future.
- Leaders who have coaching opportunities from direct managers are less likely to leave. Their feeling is that their manager is working to improve their skills and experience individually. They become better leaders when they feel they have had more close supervision and feedback opportunities. To ensure upcoming leaders get coaching when needed is to offer consistent training opportunities.
- When leaders receive consistent feedback on their skills, they are encouraged and excited to stay. The reason is that they will know they are gaining insights into how they can become more effective going forward.
- When the proper tools and information are provided to leaders to do their job more effectively, they can hit the ground running when new opportunities present themselves.
What are some of the danger signs that leaders are dissatisfied?
- Burnout
When a leader shows signs of less energy for their work, they may become burned out. Work-life balance can be impeded when they become stressed. Leaders experiencing burnout have a higher risk of leaving their organizations. - No longer finding their job rewarding
When leaders are no longer engaged in their roles, the possibility of them leaving is much higher. When they are engaged in their roles and immersed in the work, they will likely talk about it. Getting things done quickly is a sign of disengagement and withdrawal. Regular check-ins are a great way to maintain engagement and minimize leader talent loss. - Poor interactions with others.
Without positive interactions, showing empathy and providing coaching become a challenge. Those leaders at higher risk for leaving often show signs of a lack of positive interactions.
What is the bottom line?
Retaining top leaders is the most significant challenge companies face. What are the surefire ways to help keep your top leadership people? Maintain focus on your high-potential leaders and develop them. Keep alignment with the leader’s career goals and ensure leaders have the knowledge and tools to succeed.
You may also want to listen to my Wednesday Morning memo on the 3 biggest challenge for team building. Also check out my blog post on the same subject.