Regrettable attrition is one of the most critical concerns for small businesses as this kind of turnover has the potential to destroy your business. Aptly named, regrettable attrition is turnover that hurts the company and stresses the system with innumerable consequences. Whereas non-regrettable attrition occurs when the separation of an employee helps the company in some way and releases pent up stress and chaos. No business owner regrets separating an ineffective or toxic worker, but all business owners regret losing high performers.
If regrettable attrition hasn’t made your company scorecard, consider adding it immediately. If you are currently on the wrong side of this issue and actively suffering from this kind of attrition, make sure you have a high-quality exit interview at your disposal. The only thing worse than turning employees you didn’t want to lose is not knowing “why” they left. It is always best to prepare for your exit interview ahead of time, so you’re not trying to gather information in the heat of an unexpected resignation. Make sure you aren’t limiting your interview questions only to issues of tangible satisfaction like compensation, benefits, and time off. Probe for intangible issues like relationships with direct supervisors, cultural fit, and overall satisfaction in the workplace.
If you’ve ever seen a PGA golfer miss a putt, they don’t focus on the miss, they ignore the error and watch closely as the ball rolls past the hole. Why? They know the next putt is going to come back along that same line. If they don’t keep their eye on the ball, they risk dropping another stroke. If you take your eye off the ball – not doing exit interviews – you could miss another putt with the next high performing employee.
The loss of high performers won’t just hurt your top line sales revenue, it will hurt your reputation as your clients, existing employees, and potential future employees wonder why you lost such a valuable team member. Mistakes in the regrettable attrition category can often be multi-million-dollar mistakes in the long-run.
Because the loss of a high performing salesperson can be so devastating, let’s get up to speed on the two main managerial missteps that lead to this kind of turnover – compensation and control. While all employees want fair compensation, research shows us that most employees are not strongly motivated by compensation. High performers, however, aren’t most employees. Their hyper-competitive nature and desire to win makes compensation a critical component to the manager-employee relationship. If you are a leader in a sales environment where commission-based compensation rules the day, make sure you get it right. What does that mean? Simple:
Be competitive! This should be obvious, but if you’re compensating under the market rate for your top performer – fix it or don’t hire top performers because they won’t stay and you’re going to be upset when they leave.
Be complimentary! This is another obvious management practice, because most top performers don’t just like recognition, they thrive on it. If you downplay or underserve exceptional performance, you’re going to be upset when they leave.
Be careful! Top performers aren’t average employees, they are unicorns and the minute you try to level them and treat them like everyone else, you’re going to be upset when they leave.
If you do let a unicorn get away, try not to make it worse by being upset at them for leaving. Focus your anger and disappointment in the right direction – on yourself for the managerial missteps that led to the loss. Ask yourself all the tough questions like, “do our employees come first, or do our profits come first?” Perhaps you have swallowed the lie that marketing your personal brand is the most important thing to your business. If your primary focus is elevating your personal brand, you are going to be upset when your top performers leave you for a company that provides space and support for personal branding. Why? High performers are genetically wired for personal branding. Their performance isn’t just professional, it is personal, just like their brand. If you are a manager trying to rep your own personal brand, it is imperative that you grasp the gravity of the competitive conflict you are creating for your high performers. Leaders don’t compete, they lead, they develop, and they maximize the potential of the team. High performers will not suffer long under managerial competition as it violates the basic trust elements of the employer-employee relationship. If you are thinking, “if I elevate my top performers, what happens when they leave”. This isn’t just your average Catch 22; this is a destructive fear-based cycle you must resolve by creating an environment where you retain the best people in the market. Fear of losing someone drives controlling behaviors that become self-fulfilling prophecies in which your controlling tendencies drive employees away and you create environments of repetitive and ‘regrettable’ attrition.
Fear of losing someone has many bedfellows like, fear of not making enough money, fear of failing, fear of not proving everyone wrong in your past, fear of losing and fear of not being the center of attention. These kinds of fears drive toxic management styles that often manifest in the form of hyper controlling rules and regulations. It’s not that high performers don’t need direction and help organizing their production – they do. But they do not like to be parented by controlling voices that seek to squelch their personal mojo. They are connectors that want to be free to connect with others. They know how to connect with people in ways most humans do not even comprehend, and great leaders understand how to leverage these gifts to achieve epic levels of production. Telling them when to work and how to work is a galactic travesty. Whatever micromanagement technique you’re inclined to use on other employees to reduce chaos and improve consistency should never be focused on your high performers. Autonomy is the fuel that makes their car go fast.
How can you tell if your micromanagement style is bothering your high performer? Here are a few of the signs:
Rebellion – Controlling managers send messages of mistrust to high performers by micromanaging them. Micromanaging top performers is a death knell to developing mutual respect. They need autonomy and freedom to do their thing. They inherently trust themselves and want the opportunity to prove it, be praised, and be accepted for who they are. Mistrusting them, over time, feels like rejection and rejection will eventually turn into rebellion.
Non-Communicative – High performers will start to shut down when they feel they are being controlled and underappreciated. Extremely extroverted personalities become disappointedly introverted in the presence of strong parental control from toxic management styles that poison their daily life.
Detachment – Slowly but surely, you’ll see a problem. If your managerial acumen is high, you will sense it first, but if it is low, you will see it. The minute you ask another staff member, “what’s wrong with ——, or did you feel like —— is off lately?”, go straight to that employee and work to settle the conflict before detachment becomes divorce. Attempts to passively scold high performers by justifying control-based rules and guidelines will backfire and put you on the clock toward regrettable attrition.
We can help you sort back through past turnover and categorize it based on the circumstances. Most importantly, we can help you get out of the destructive cycle of losing a top performing employee, restore your reputation, and do better with the talent you acquire going forward.