“If you don’t modify workloads to retain your best people, you’ll be forced to modify workloads when they leave.” – Jeremy Clopton
Last week in this space the topic was people, and how no matter what great ideas we have, or what great products and services we offer, we won’t get very far if we don’t get the people part right. Based on some of the responses we received, that idea must have touched a nerve.
One thing we heard from more than one leader was the frustration around having trained and developed and coached some great people only to see them leave for another opportunity. Someone mentioned a great team member who’d been given more and more responsibility and then suddenly they left, and the leader didn’t know how all that work was going to get done.
That made me think about something I’ve seen a lot over the years. When we have great people, we keep giving them more and more things to do. And quite often, one of the very things that helps make them great – taking pride in what they do – also won’t allow them to say “no”. So, they keep accepting more responsibility even though they’ve passed their limit. And eventually they get burned out and quit.
We spend a lot of time trying to “fix” our struggling employees, but do we spend enough time protecting the best ones? Do you sit down on a regular basis and think about what you need to do to make sure your best people aren’t being stretched past their breaking point? Or do you just assume that since they’re great they’ll be able to handle whatever you give them?
Even your best people have a limit. You must make sure that they’re not going past it, or they’re going to eventually leave you. If working for you is grinding them down, someone else will be more than happy to offer them a landing spot.
Give your best people reasons to stay with you, not reasons to leave. If you can create a space for them that’s challenging and rewarding without being exhausting, they’ll pay you back a thousand times over. Start creating that space now.
