A Retention Strategy Your Staff Can See Through

Source: Accounting Office Management & Administration Report

According to Quint Studer -- author of the book "Straight A Leadership: Alignment, Action, Accountability" -- transparency is the key to motivating and retaining staff. A culture of openness offers many benefits, including:

• Avoiding a "no news is bad news" mentality and, even if the news is bad, enabling staff to plan and act accordingly.
• Allowing staff to see the financial big picture so they can understand owners' decisions.
• Making staff aware of how the external environment affects the firm.
• Delivering a consistent message that bypasses the grapevine.
• Avoiding "us vs. them" divisiveness.
• Enhancing productivity by ensuring that staff members understand what's required and work collaboratively.
• Retaining high performers, who may interpret a lack of transparency as a sign of poor financial health and begin to explore other options.

One of the best ways to find out about staff concerns is to ask them. But how you ask is as important as what you ask, says Mark Murphy, CEO of Leadership IQ. "If you don't know exactly what actions will fix a situation, don't ask a question about it until you do," Murphy explains. "Otherwise, you're setting the stage for employees to doubt your leadership capabilities."

Avoid questions like "Do you trust your boss?" and "Does your boss care about you as a person?" If the response to these questions is negative, it's hard to come up with a solution. Instead, ask questions about problems that are readily solved, such as "If you shared your work problems with your manager, would he or she respond constructively?"

For the complete article, click here.

From Accounting Office Management & Administration Report, Institute of Management and Administration, Inc., Newark, NJ, [email protected], May 2010, p. 6, "Communication Is Key to Enhancing Staff Performance and Retention Now."