Some industries have more turnover than others. Manufacturing is one of those high-turnover industries still stuck in the industrial era mindset of command and control, which poses a challenge to the younger generation of talented employees.
A former client, in the manufacturing industry, called me last week to catch up but ended up sharing his frustrations. He said he’s losing talented people and wants to know what he can do to stop it. I asked him what reasons these talented employees gave for leaving the job. The answers he shared didn’t surprise me.
I listened and responded: If you’re losing talent, it’s your fault.
As a leader, you have to create the conditions for talent to flourish and thrive. If talented people are not thriving, you are going to lose them—fast.
Ask yourself and reflect on these questions:
- Are your talented people growing?
- Are they motivated?
- Are they thriving?
- Are they bored?
- Are they fully engaged giving 200% (mental and physical)?
- Are you listening to their feedback and ideas?
- Are you sourcing ideas from them?
- Are you eliminating obstacles for them?
- Are you giving them more work but not increasing their pay?
- Are you giving them challenging work which requires them to learn and adapt?
- Are you underutilizing their knowledge and skills?
- Are you giving them feedback on their performance?
- Do you have effective leadership?
- Do you have a culture that nurtures and engages employees?
Great leaders enable their employees to reach their full potential; they don’t limit them. To keep your talented people, you must invest in their growth, nurture a culture of engagement, and eliminate the obstacles that hold them back. Talented people like to work with talented people. They want to feel useful and add value. If their knowledge and abilities are underutilized, they will disengage and leave. Remember, use them or lose them.
Bottom line: Losing talent is a reflection of the culture, leadership, and environment you’ve created. It’s on you to change that.
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