1. According to a study just published in Training Magazine in February 2009, two out of five workers are open to looking for a new position.  And in 2008, 25 percent of all employed Americans left their jobs voluntarily. We all know how expensive it is to replace people and the knowledge they take with them.  

2. Just because employees are “stuck” and can’t leave, doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem. Right now, with all major changes taking place in companies, morale is low and employees are becoming disengaged. And disengaged employees are less productive and cost your company thousands of dollars a year. 

Even if your company hasn’t been affected with a major change such as downsizing, merger, or  restructuring, moral is low because everyone is preoccupied with questions like: “What will happen to me?” “What are our leaders doing to save the company?” “Do they have our best interest in mind?” “Are we hearing the whole truth?” and, “Am I important to the company?” Companies are pressured to reduce costs, improve results, and increase productivity to survive. So, it’s important to look at why people leave an organization because these are the same reasons that make employees become disengaged. Over the years, surveys have been done to find out the real reasons people leave their jobs and these have been the top reasons: 

1.  Employee/Manager Relationship
2. Inability to use core skills
3. Not able to impact the organization’s goals & mission
4. Frequent reorganizations; lack of control over career
5.  Inability to “grow and develop”
6.  Employee/organization values misalignment
7. Lack of resources to do the job
8. Unclear expectations
9. Lack of flexibility-“whole life balance”
10. Salary/benefits 

The most successful companies have a plan to do something about these reasons to create an environment where people want to work. i.e.; to keep employees fully engaged.   

Number one on the list was the employee/manager relationship.  

This is not news. We all know that in good times and bad times, people leave their jobs or are unhappy because they don’t like or respect their management. And, we know that people will stand by their management in tough times if they respect and trust them.  On an employee survey, when asked the question: Do you trust your boss? The answers correlated to the level of team work and performance more than any other question asked.

High trust improves engagement, collaboration, and productivity.  Stephen R. Covey says: “Trust is the key leadership competency of the new global economy.” And “When Trust goes up, speed goes up, and costs go down” . In difficult economic conditions, when there are major organizational changes, cut-backs and layoffs, it’s tougher to build trust. So, how do you build trusting relationships with scared, skeptical employees? There are several things we can do to build trust.  

1. Trust begins with us personally and extends to our relationships. First, understand yourself. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses and be honest about them. No one can do everything well - you know what you don’t do well and so does everyone else.
2. Take the time to talk to those who report to you so they get to know you and feel comfortable with you. It will show that you genuinely care about them and that your intentions have their best interests in mind. Getting to know you will help them open up and be honest with you.
3.  Make sure your own behavior reflects your values and beliefs. Admitting your mistakes will restore trust and help build integrity.
4. Demonstrate your executive team’s competence and show past results. If you can build confidence in your skills and past performance, it will increase the trust that people have in your knowledge and abilities to get things done.
5. Communicate often and consistently.Speak personally to everyone, if you can, and create a forum for questions and discussion. Give information on a regular basis. One of the best ways to build a sense of trust in people is by sharing information. Unfortunately, there are some things that managers can’t divulge, but they can open the dialogue with employees and gives them the sense that they are part of the “in- the–know” crowd. Share the good and bad news. Be honest about the situation and communicate your plans -where you are heading, changes that will need to be made, how you will deal with problems, and how each employee fits into the plan to achieve your vision.
6.  All employees need to understand how their work contributes to the overall goals of the organization.   

Creating an environment where staff can maximize their contribution and develop to become high-performing
 
1. Challenge employees to use and develop their talents

For an employee to do their best, they must be able to use and develop their professional and personal talents.  Employees who are challenged, encouraged, and allowed to use their talents and do their best are highly productive.   It's an investment that comes back to the company. By using each person's strengths and offering exciting and challenging work, learning and development opportunities, and a good team atmosphere with great people, the employee and the company wins.
 
 
Recent studies have shown that the manager, whether a supervisor or team leader, actually has more power than anyone else to increase engagement and reduce unwanted turnover. Why? Because the factors that drive employee satisfaction and commitment are largely within the direct manager's control.
 
If a manager can find out what their employees are really good at, use these talents on the job, and give them opportunities to grow, the employee will be happier and put more into their jobs.
 
With so many people to manage, it's tough to understand everyone. Sometimes, when the manager doesn't understand someone's work style, they may think that they aren't competent, when, they may be very talented, but, they just have a different way of approaching problems. That's why assessments are so valuable. They can tell a manager valuable information about strengths, weaknesses and style and help them understand how to best work with each employee. Assessments can also help identify which values are important to each individual and give mangers clues on how to best motivate each employee.
 
2. Provide a collaborative environment
 
When people get along with each other, it makes the work atmosphere a lot more enjoyable. So, developing a good team environment is very important to retaining employees and keeping them engaged.
 
The manager can foster collaboration by:

• Being clear as to everyone's role.
• Continually reinforce that each person is valuable and combining talents will lead to the team's success.
• Help everyone understand that it is acceptable to not be good at everything and that they are allowed to ask for help and depend on each other.
• With different talents, come different work styles and communications styles. The manager needs to manage conflict and reinforce that everyone needs to make an effort to adapt and work together.
• As the team progresses, the manager needs to adapt the way he/she manages the team to move them through the steps of development to become high-performing.
• Keep every team member accountable for their tasks and deadlines.
• Reward accomplishments.