Overworking good employees is perplexing for them as it makes them feel as if they’re being punished for their great performance, while research shows that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours. Image: thriveglobal.
Travis Bradberry lists common mistakes made by managers that can burn out their best employees and eventually result in them heading for the exit.
What makes you happy at work? Maybe you have a great boss who gives you the freedom to be creative, rewards you for going the extra mile, and helps you reach your career goals.
Maybe you have none of the above and are updating your résumé as we speak.
It’s pretty incredible how often you hear managers complaining about their best employees leaving, and they really do have something to complain about — few things are as costly and disruptive as good people walking out the door.
Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the sun while ignoring that people don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.
The more demanding your job is and the less control you have over what you do, the more likely you are to suffer.
A study by the American Psychological Association found that people whose work meets these criteria are more likely to experience exhaustion, poor sleep, anxiety, and depression.
Yet this suffering can easily be avoided. All that’s required is a new perspective and some extra effort on the manager’s part to give employees autonomy and make their work feel less demanding.
To get there, managers must understand what they’re doing to kill morale. The following practices are the worst offenders and must be addressed to hang on to good employees.
Overworking people: Working the best people hard is so tempting that managers frequently fall into this trap.
Overworking good employees is perplexing for them as it makes them feel as if they’re being punished for their great performance. It is also counterproductive.
Research shows that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours.
Talented employees will take on a bigger workload, but they won’t stay if their job suffocates them in the process.
Raises, promotions, and title changes are all acceptable ways to increase workload, but if managers simply increase workload because people are talented, without changing a thing, these employees will seek another job.
Holding people back: This happens when managers sacrifice your upward mobility for their best interests.
If you’re looking for your next career opportunity, and your boss is unwilling to let you move up the ladder, your enthusiasm is bound to wane. It becomes a serious morale killer.
When blessed with a talented employee, it’s the manager’s job to keep finding areas in which they can improve to expand their skill set and further their career.
The most talented employees want feedback — more so than the less-talented ones — and it’s a manager’s job to keep it coming. Otherwise, people grow bored and complacent.
Playing the blame game: A boss who is too proud to admit a mistake, or who singles out individuals in front of the group, creates a culture riddled with fear and anxiety.
Instead of pointing fingers when something goes wrong, good managers work collaboratively with their team and focus on solutions.
They pull people aside to discuss slip-ups instead of publicly shaming them, and they’re willing to accept responsibility for mistakes made under their leadership.
Not letting people pursue their passions: Talented employees are passionate, and providing opportunities for them to pursue their passions improves their productivity.
However, many managers want people to work within a little box, fearing productivity will decline if they let people expand their focus. This fear is unfounded. Studies have shown that people who are able to pursue their passions at work experience flow, a euphoric state of mind that is five times more productive than the norm.
Withholding praise: It’s easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back, especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated.
Everyone likes kudos, none more so than those who work hard and give their all. Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good and then reward them for a job well done.
With top performers, this will happen often if you’re doing it correctly.
This doesn’t mean that managers need to praise people for showing up on time or working an eight-hour day, but a boss who does not praise dedicated employees erodes their commitment to the job.
If managers want their best people to stay, they need to think carefully about how they treat them. They need to make people want to work for them.
Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the co-founder of TalentSmart. His books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. He can be contacted at TalentSmart.com. This article first appeared on the TalentSmart website.
