82% of Managers Have the Wrong Talent
Gallup finds that companies choose managers with the wrong talent 82% of the time.
Bill Clinton’s campaign for President was advanced by the slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Organizations that want to attract and retain talent need a slogan like, “It’s the manager, stupid.”
71% of employees are looking for new jobs. (Washington Post)
7 reasons they leave:
- Isolated or disconnected manager.
- Lack of feeling supported by their manager.
- Disrespected by their manager.
- Confusing priorities and expectations from management.
- Low or no growth opportunities. The number one reason people change jobs is career growth opportunities. (Gallup)
- Desire coaching but receive directing from their manager.
- Lack of feedback from their manager. Millennials want more feedback! (HBR)
Be the manager everyone wants:
Be you.
The manager everyone wants to work for is real.
Only fakers like fakers. Everyone else is drawn to authenticity with all its quirky vulnerability.
Authenticity is hard because of people-pleasing, fear, and insecurity. Additionally, we’re too busy for self-awareness.
Power question: What story might you tell that will give others a glimpse of your real self?
Extend generosity.
Generous managers advance the status and career of others. Worry less about getting ahead. Worry more about helping others get ahead.
You will be a talent magnet if you advance the career of others.
Power question: How might you advance the status or career of someone today?
Practice humility.
Humility is stronger than arrogance.
- Show genuine interest in people as people.
- Let others be smart. If you’re always the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
- Build partnerships, not hierarchies.
- Speak with kind candor and extend support simultaneously. Arrogance beats down. Humility lifts up.
Power question: How might you get to know someone on your team today?
Bonus: Attract and retain talent by creating opportunity for experiences. (CNN)
Complete this sentence: The manger everyone wants to work for ….
Good morning Dan
For me it all starts and ends with communication.
When you believe you are not being heard or uou feel your input doesn’t matter you feel disconnected.
Leaders must 1st build a sence of community within thier spheres of influnce. You must 1st gain the trust of your people before they will follow you. Say what you mean and be clear about expectations & objectives. Be there to assist in the midst of challenging times but strive not to take over or take charge everytime indesion rears its ugly head. Allow others to work throw challeges & be availiable when its necessary. However when the situation allows ( wait to intervene until you are asked), which is a great way to display trust in people and teams.
When you build trust and team spirited cohesiveness you create an atmosphere where people believe that together you can transform even the toughest challenges and obstacles turning bad situations into positive outcomes.
Train people so they are prepared to move on. But treat them so they’ll stay. “I believe I heard that from a wise old friend.”
Well time to go Dan, gota begin my 1st day in my next career.
Cheers n hava great day,
SGT Steve
Thanks SGT. I couldn’t help but think about the power of leadership to create environments where people can bring their best.
Best wishes on your first day!
… a manager they can trust and who will support and champion them. One of the best books I have read is ‘First, Break All the Rules” by Clifton and Buckingham (published by Gallup). The biggest take-away was that people don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses. An eye-opener for me and came at a time in my career when I had just been elevated to a CAO position.
Correction: ‘First, Break All the Rules” was by Coffman and Buckingham.
Thanks Daryl. So many leadership conversations circle back to trust. I’ll add Covey’s book, Speed of Trust to the list of suggestions.
Any company with high turn-over knows where to look to begin solving the problem.
hey Dan. Love reading your columns. This particular post resonates to me as this is why I left my last job…6/7 was their score. Thank you for the great articles
Thanks Roger. Congrats on finding a new place to work.
#7. Lack of feedback from their manager. Millennials want more feedback. Well, I’m not a Millennial (thank goodness) and I want more feedback too. Just like the saying Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money…More feedback, more feedback. More importantly, it has to be timely, telling a manager about what they did wrong weeks ago or even years ago is pointless, you ‘ll just lose them altogether and forget about them trusting you.
I think #7 should read: The lack of Positive Feedback is missing. Feedback doesn’t have to be negative, it can be a positive experience as well. Don’t be afraid of Mo’ Feedback 🙂
Thanks yanir. Well said. Anyone who wants to do well wants lots of feedback. I think when we are new we want to know if we are doing it right. As time passes we focus more on performance improvement. We don’t need quite as much affirmation. However, affirmation is gas for the engine, regardless of who you are.
I recently left a position where the manager I reported to was extremely arrogant, disrespectful to me and my direct reports, had conflicting priorities, and didn’t value the growth and development of the members of our teams, etc., etc.. I had never (in 30+ years of working) had this kind of experience. I now work where I am valued, treated respectfully, and where my team is valued and treated respectfully. Thank you for your wisdom.
Thanks Janet. Glad you found a better place to work. If companies knew how much a disconnected, unskilled manager cost them they would take quicker action to resolve the issue.
Great post, Dan. My favorite line “Let others be smart. If you’re always the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” speaks volumes about the need for Managers to grow and ‘learn something new everyday’ too. I’ve always found that if you are open to new learning, your team is far more likely to bring you new ideas.
Thanks Susan. If you want people to share their insights then be excited to hear and learn. Boy, that sure makes sense.
A growing manager is more likely to have a team of growth oriented people.
So true, great in-sight. One point I would like to make we educate our management at training seminars in how to be a great leader and then we don’t implement that training to our teams. So if we are going to Talk the talk then we need to Walk the walk! So often we put managers in place because they have a certain degree? No OJT!! They want to change the world in a day and put everyone in a tail spin. Good ideas also come with good implementation and follow through!
Thanks Don. The challenge of change is that it takes work and it’s usually slow. We have to work on small daily behavior changes. Don’t wait for the magic fair dust.
Oh boy. I just read this, looked up at my millennial reports, and asked when is a good time to sit and go over a few items. The items are a pretext: I want to open the door for connection. Thanks Dan and all!
Thanks Cate. I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of connection. It seems obvious that people are happier and more productive when they feel connected. In addition, people are lest likely to leave.
Among that 82% are all the managers who have “been promoted to the level of their own incompetence”. They’re the people who did a fantastic job as a technical lead, specialist, salesperson etc and as a “reward” for this were promoted into management roles that they aren’t qualified, competent or (often) frankly interested in doing. They then bump along doing it as well as they can, but aren’t in the right place doing the right job.
Good Afternoon Dan,
To complete the sentence: The manager everyone wants to work for provides expectation and guiding directions from the beginning.
I really enjoyed this blog. I completely agree with you 7 reasons employees leave. For me, the one that would push me over the edge is no growth opportunities or support. Who wants to work in an organization they can’t grow or feel unwanted/supported? For many organizations, this is sometimes exposed by a survey of how the work climate of the organization. Periodic reviews of the work climate will let the leadership or managers know what needs improving and whether management is excelling in an area.
Since boot camp, it is quite often that you will hear that someone is always watching if you do something wrong or right. This is a technique that trainers use to expose new Sailors to integrity. Doing the right thing even when someone is not looking. This is very true when people are in leadership positions because they provide an example for subordinates. I think integrity and actually caring about your team plays a lot with the manager everyone wants. I try to always push myself to be honest and truthful in my work as in my personal life. In my experience in the military, I’ve clung to mentors that are authentic, extend generosity with teachings and grooming, and practice humility. Maybe it is because I relate to them, he or she was personable or actually cared, they displayed those characteristics. I am not sure but those leadership characteristics that made me cling to them, I made sure to take note because I wanted to do the same for future generations.
By being myself, extending generosity, and practicing humility, I have had excelled in leadership positions. I’ve had the opportunity to mentor and groom new Sailors for what is to come in the Navy which is something that brings me the satisfaction and some sort of purpose.
Thanks for the interesting and intriguing post!
Thank you, Dan. This is SOOOOO true and spot on. Although you mention millennials, I think this applies to all generations in the workforce. Individuals need to feel they add value to their work and organization so when their managers don’t recognize that, they go elsewhere or worse yet, become a disengaged employee.
Hi Dan,
Posting this again, I wasn’t able to see my original post gathering my thoughts again regarding this topic. I firmly believe the manager can helps steer a ship through even the toughest times. They can help their own teams manage stress and projects better with support. Employees can be different in how they want to be recognized, given feedback or how they’d prefer to be communicated to regarding certain situations. I would suggest getting to know them by having those 1 on 1 meetings to understand how they can better be supported.
My apologies for being a little late to the party on this one, Dan, but I had to comment. There are some very basic strategies mentioned – yet they are incredibly hard to implement when the manager is always trying to be, as you put it, the “smartest person the room”. It’s difficult and takes practice. Really. Managers who rise to their level often think they have to be the “always right, always intuitive” expert. The most important principle that I have taken from this particular post is, “Think of others first and you don’t always have to be the expert.” Thanks, Dan!