“Usually people don’t leave companies, they leave managers.”
That was a phrase listed by an ex-employee on a social media app about my company. Wow, that hit home and I did a lot of thinking as to why they felt that way.
We prided ourselves on communicating a mission statement and core values that singled out the importance of our employees as the most important asset of the company. We even said we wanted to have fun while we worked and respect the individual. So where did we go wrong?
2018 started out with great revenue growth and a very good bottom line. We had more work then we could handle. We have hired over 50 people so far this year, but only had a net gain of 25. So maybe we weren’t the best workplace I had envisioned. I would like to blame it on the lowest unemployment rate in the past 38 years. But that would be buying my head in the sand.
So I decided to return to management 101. Did our culture build the positive morale we had for so many years? We had grown to 140 employees and developed departmental silos. Everyone worked hard to satisfy our external customers as we struggled to get product to our customers on time. Overtime was at an all-time high and staff was making more money than ever through the extra work. However, we weren’t taking care of our internal customers. Communication was missing.
So I started at the top with myself. I started to listen better. I stopped talking so much about our plan and found out our management staff wasn’t always on the same page. They needed to remember the reason for the strategic plan action items. I didn’t start by talking to them, but rather the front line and middle management.
In their opinion, they had good overall direction from their boss, but they had a perception that the other bosses were concerned only about their own silo. They were begging for a better team effort. I talked to each senior manager about their perception of our morale. They agreed it needed improvement.
When I shared with them the input from other department employees, they were surprised. Simple statements the senior management team had said on the floor were causing chaos and they didn’t even know it.
So we got back to basics. We reviewed our mission statement and core values. I asked each manager, “Does the room light up when you enter it or after you leave it?” We can’t always be that happy-go-lucky personality, but we can be conscious of leading with positive energy and an aligned plan.
The staff wants to succeed, make our internal and external customers happy, and, of course, make a good living. So as managers, we can foster the positive morale and culture that leads to less turnover. And boy, is that important in today’s labor market. ●
Dolf Kahle is CEO at Visual Marking Systems Inc.
