By Kent Mulkey
I could read the writing on the wall. I stopped hearing from the leadership in my company. My boss canceled our one-on-one meetings every week for months. My gut told me that my days were numbered.
At a different company where I worked, many years ago, the only time I heard from my boss was when she called to scold me about yet something else yours truly had done wrong.
The COO of one company I worked for would make his dreaded quarterly visit to my community where I worked as the executive director. The lion’s share of his visit he spent berating me for the most ridiculous, minute issues. He was all roar and no bite. The real picture is that the team operated an award-winning community.
No wonder people are leaving jobs in record numbers!
If you are reading this article, it is likely that you are in a position of leadership in your company — you supervise others and have a responsibility to help ensure success in their role and future success.
You have extraordinarily little time remaining before you lose even more people, so do not delay this exercise even one more week to help ensure that your employees experience greater satisfaction. I guarantee you they will stay around!
Schedule a one-on-one with each of your direct reports, and discuss the following questions:
- Ask them about their happiness at work. Do they like it here? Do they have friends at work?
- Ask them if their job is meaningful. Do they feel challenged? Do they feel their work is making the world a better place?
- Ask them how to improve the company culture. Do they feel celebrated and cherished?
- Ask them if they feel valuable. Do they matter? Would there be a hole in the team if they were to leave?
You may not be able to change your company or your division or community. You can help change the lives of a few people, the people on your team.
They are, hands down, your greatest asset.
