The Importance of Removing Obstacles
Categories: Transparency & Training – Green Goldfish #155 Centro
People quit bosses, not jobs. The biggest reason employees leave is because of their managers. A recent study by Assocham revealed,
About 70 percent of [survey] respondents said that employees who quit their jobs complain about the indifferent attitude of their bosses or immediate supervisor.”
Want to increase employee engagement? It’s not “rocket science.” The single biggest driver is the quality of the relationship with the employee’s direct manager. Put an emphasis on developing managers of people. Here’s an excellent example from the Windy City:
Scott Golas, vice president of human resources at Centro LLC, the Chicago-based online advertising buyer that landed at No. 1 on Crain’s Best Places to Work list this year and in 2011, says his company focuses on the manager-employee relationship. Centro spends a lot of time training managers.
Let’s face it: People leave companies because of their boss,” Mr. Golas says. “We try to remove the typical obstacles (between bosses and employees) by sharing more information, by providing great training and by making sure those bosses have the right skill sets.” (Source: Crains)
Here is a YouTube video on the Centro Way with a horrible joke at the end:
Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra thrown in for good measure) – I’m a visual person. When I think of a horrible manager, the face of Office Space’s Bill Lumbergh comes to mind. He epitomizes the “Dark Side” of management. Here’s a YouTube video whereby an evil office tyrant demands complete employee submission. Recut with Lumbergh as Darth Vader courtesy of Chris Ironson:
The example in the post was taken from the Green Goldfish Project. The Project is a quest to find 1,001 examples of marketing lagniappe for employees. Green goldfish are the little signature extras given to employees. They help differentiate a company, reinforce culture, increase retention and drive positive WoM. The book, “What’s Your Green Goldfish?” will be published on March 29, 2013.
