More than we think is my view.
It’s easy to be dismissive and decide that more things are outside of our control than is actually the case. I realise there are degrees of control and some things we can influence, whilst others we can’t.
Certain things like the weather, traffic, and the economy stand out as being examples of where we have little or no control. However, what we can control is our response. This often makes the difference in terms of the quality of outcomes depending on how effectively we do respond.
I was talking to a business owner recently who was bemoaning the fact that he could not keep good people in his company. His statement was very much along the lines of ‘‘mate, there is nothing you can do, loyalty is shot, and people are getting poached for extra money. All my colleagues in business are saying the same thing’’.
I acknowledged the challenge but asked him what he was doing to attract and retain his people. Initially, he was a little bemused by my question but replied ‘‘well, we pay above market rates, and no one complains about working here’’.
That may be true, but based on what he said, people were still leaving his business. Something needed to change. That made him open to discussing some additional options that could improve his retention rates. We discussed the top 20 retention strategies based on current research. A link to download those strategies is shown below.
Being Open-minded is Key
The point of this exercise was not to make him feel bad or suggest that he was not a good boss, but merely to encourage him to be open-minded to new ideas.
This reinforces the point that there are more things within our control than we know about, or care to know about. We need to be both open-minded and curious to research what is happening around us, especially in the challenging area of staff resourcing and retention.
If you are interested to gain access to the engagement diagnostic we used, download it HERE.
ALSO READ: Communicate to Converse, Not Simply Convince
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