Don’t beg employees to stay as they leave

Stop begging at work. Quite frankly, it’s really not a good look for you anyway. We’ll get to that. What I’m talking about specifically is when employers beg employees to stay only after they leave, or threaten to.

Whether an employee is asking for a raise or some other work environment change, their supervisors or HR do not usually take them seriously until they are about ready to leave or worse, already left your organization. So, what’s the big deal? Well, it’s actually quite disrespectful.

  • It’s disrespectful to the employee. When employers don’t consider an employee’s request for something to change to make their work environment better, the employee feels devalued. I’m speaking, of course, about high performers. You may not ever be able to make everyone happy but the worst thing you can do to your highest performers is to make them feel less than what they really are to you. Waiting until they threaten to leave to make a change doesn’t help. It takes a lot of energy for them to look for another job and go through interviewing processes. It is completely disrespectful to them when you make them an offer to stay only when you realize they can go somewhere else.
  • It’s disrespectful to the other organization that is ready and willing to hire your employee. If you wait until your employee has another offer on the table, you’re wasting the time of the organization that has invested resources in hiring your employee. It takes time, money and other resources – someone to source the applications, a recruiter, a hiring manager, an onboarding staff, trainers, etc. You wouldn’t want this to happen to you so don’t put this burden on others.
  • It’s disrespectful to your team. Your team is not just going to think that you do not value people but how are they going to feel when they find out you made a higher offer or change for the employee who was leaving? The message you are sending is that the only way someone can get a higher salary or positive change on your team is if they threaten to leave. Everyone will start looking for another job!
  • It’s disrespectful to yourself. As leaders, you have a responsibility to support your teams and like it or not, you have a reputation to maintain. If you beg employees to stay only after they leave, you look like a fool and that is not a good look for a leader. Respect yourself enough not to do this.

I’m not suggesting you give employees everything they want, not even your highest performers. The point is you need to take off the blurry glasses and at least take a hard look at what’s going on in your workplaces, how you are treating your best employees and consider making meaningful changes before you lose them. Take this as a way to look in the mirror at yourself and do a quick reality check because you often don’t realize the impact of your decisions and actions especially if no one tells you or you’re in the midst of a busy work schedule. Be proactive in making appropriate changes for your team instead of waiting until you feel forced to do it because they are looking for another opportunity.

I get it. Depending on where you are on the hierarchy, you may or may not have as much power as you would like in order to impact change. Before you give up on fighting for your employees though, answer this question honestly: did you even try fighting for them or did you just give up? Ask the right questions to your HR departments. Take the time to put a business case together to present to your senior leaders. Draft a well thought-out proposal for your boss. Use your connections. If you lose the battle, at least you know you went down fighting for what you believe was the right thing.


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Break the rules, set some standards

I was at the Empower conference presented by CareerBuilder this week and had the amazing pleasure of hearing Coach Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, speak about the importance of obtaining great talent. Now, let’s get one thing out of the way – as some of you may know, I’m a very proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison so there’s no doubt I was rooting for the Badgers to take the men’s basketball championship this year. And, that’s exactly what it looked like was going to happen until Duke made a jaw-dropping comeback.

I’ve always been a Coach K fan even though I’m a Badger at heart but I became an even bigger fan after hearing him speak.

Ownership: You don’t work for something; you are something. – Coach K

He talked to us about how he recruited the best players to Duke, reminding us that hiring for character is just as important as hiring for talent or skill. One of the most important lessons I took away from Coach K’s presentation is that strong teams don’t have rules; they have standards that they agree to. Some of the standards that Coach K has set with his teams include:

  • No excuses.
  • Always be on time.
  • Always be honest and tell each other the truth.

This got me thinking about my own team and field of work and what type of standards I would set with my teams. So, I talked to them. Leading a training team, here are some standards I feel are important:

  • No excuses; always be on time; always be honest and tell each other the truth. Why wouldn’t I steal those from Coach K?
  • We don’t always have to be the best but we should always try to be our best. We strive to be better every day.
  • Never stop thinking. If we stop thinking, we stop creating, innovating and improving.
  • Share our ideas and our knowledge. No one likes an information hog.
  • Be proactive about learning. Don’t wait for someone to teach us something but rather, seek opportunities to learn.
  • Hold each other accountable. Don’t be afraid to call each other out. It makes us better.

Developing standards for a team allows everyone to be on the same page, work towards a common goal and be accountable to each other. What standards would you add to this list for your team?


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How to turn candidates down and still have them love you

As I ponder all the changes in the world of recruiting and hiring, I resort back to one of the best experiences I’ve had with a company. I interviewed with Kohl’s Department Stores years ago for an internship and I did not get the job. Yet, I would recommend their stores to anyone looking to shop and their company to anyone looking for an awesome place to work.

After applying for the job, I was invited to to an interview with a recruiter. She made me feel very comfortable and was not intimidating at all. I was extremely fresh in my career so I was not used to interviews where the employer wanted to know about me personally. It was as if we we’ve been friends forever.

I got a call the next day inviting me to the last round of interviews which was held at Kohl’s headquarters. Amazing! That’s quick turnaround if I know it. I was told it would be an all day event. I thought they were joking at first but they said they would pay for me to come into the city the night before, enjoy a dinner on them and stay in a four-star hotel they paid for.

After a wonderful night, I showed up to my day of interviews with a free breakfast, a session with the CEO and other candidates and free gifts from Kohl’s stores. After I interviewed with two people, I was taken on a tour of the building and provided a free, delicious lunch. The tour included meeting all kinds of employees and hearing about their projects and stories. After my last two interviews, they paid for my ride home.

The next day, the recruiters were communicating with me already. To say the least, I was extremely disappointed that I did not get the job but I have no hard feelings towards the company because they treated me with great respect and really let me get to know their company.

This is a prime example of how to turn down a candidate and still have them love you. You don’t have to do everything that Kohl’s did but don’t leave a bad taste in candidate’s mouths. They may not be the right person for the current job but they might be the perfect person for another opening you have in the future. It’s all about creating an experience and building relationships.


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