You have lousy managers
Hi there.
Take yourself on a managers evaluation date night. Buy yourself your favorite drink. Sit there quietly and ask yourself honestly: What is the experience my employees have in their day to day in their teams and with their managers? Why does no one want to stay? Do you know?
Let it sink in. What are you doing about it?
Are there skills your managers may be lacking to lead, manage and inspire their teams? Could there be personality clashes you are unaware of?
Borrow a piece of paper if you didn’t bring your notebook. Write the 10 things that define what type of managers your company needs for people to stay.
Go to office tomorrow, start inculcating these traits one by one.
And if you don’t know what to do, we have many ideas!
Your website is uninspiring…
… and lacks adequate information to inspire your ideal talent. Top talent is picky. They want to be associated with a strong brand. They want their experiences to matter. They have standards for how each experience connects to their big picture. Also, it’s 2019 and empowered job seekers have a say on who they work with.
So yes: The first place they go to is your website. They are looking for how you are telling the story of your work. How you talk about your team. Can they learn a thing or two about how it is to work with you? How much effort have you put into portraying your worth?
You simply don’t care and everyone knows
If you know Nairobi well, then you know what “Nairobi hapa” means. You cannot hide in this city. Sooner or later, your dirty workplace laundry will be out in the streets. And once it’s out there, who will apply to your company really?
On the contrary you could decide to care.
And what do we mean?
Simply see your employees as humans. The same load of personal problems you go through they do too. The same strong face you have been wearing for the last 2 years, they have been carrying it for a decade maybe.
To care means:
- You listen to their needs and offer time to help them navigate them. Sometimes a simple 10-minute brainstorm will elevate pounds of emotional weight that is affecting their productivity.
- Sharing your own personal struggles helps them remember you too are not a super human.
- And maybe sometimes give them an unexpected day off because they worked too much last week.
- Or you let them work from home when they are sick-ish; not too sick to not work, yet if they went to the office, they’d get worse.
- Or you just show up with small surprise gifts they love because you have taken time to observe and learn their interests.
Do the simple stuff. Then watch what happens.
