Why do people leave their jobs, and what can you do about it? 

Let’s face it, people leave people.

I’ve known men and women who have stayed in businesses where they felt they weren’t being paid their worth, they were being overlooked for promotion or taken advantage of in some way, yet they stayed because of the people they worked with.

I’ve also known others to leave brilliant businesses because of their boss and how they were being treated, they couldn’t bear to be around them any longer.

Are you the leader who keeps a steady team whatever turbulence the business might be facing, or the one who always seems to be recruiting?

Are you the employee who really enjoys their work – in large part due to the people you get to work alongside each day, or the one who has had enough of being walked over every day?

‘people work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards’ Dale Carnegie.

Today I’m talking to all you leaders out there. We have a duty of care to the people in our team, however big or small that team is. We owe it to both the business and our team to be the best leader we can be and that involves making sure that each day, along with everything else required of us, we put on our people hat and look at what we are doing as leaders to make sure we have an engaged team.

Some at this point may think Employee Engagement, that’s HR’s job, not mine.

That’s simply not true. Employee engagement is something we can all affect. Some elements do fall into the domain of HR such as pay, benefits, holidays etc., however employee engagement is so much more than this.

Today let’s consider Recognition. When you feel recognised at work does it give you a warm glow, whether in the form of a formal award or an informal pat on the back? I suspect it doesn’t really matter what form it takes, both are enjoyable to receive and have a knock on effect of making you feel more engaged in the work you do. 

If you’re new to the world of Leadership you may be wondering where to start with recognition.

Start today by simply saying ‘well done’ to someone who does a good job. Or by telling someone you noticed an email they sent, a call they made or results they delivered, and you were impressed/approve/appreciate the work they are doing.

‘Is that it?’ I hear you asking. Yes. It really doesn’t take much to start changing the dynamics in a team, a simple thank you will do it. 

Recognition is best delivered consistently. Don’t save it up for the yearly appraisal. Whatever it may be, recognise it straight away to have the most impact and start to develop a culture of appreciation in your team. This is something you can do immediately, it requires no money, no sign off from HR, no approval from your boss and will have a beneficial effect on both the receiver and you.

If you do want to get HR involved, you might start a peer recognition system. In my daughter’s school the children nominate each other for good deeds and once a month a group earn a trip to Nandos or similar. A company I know send e-cards to each other to say thank you for support given, a great job or anything else they want to appreciate. They go a step further by hosting these e-cards on a central system everyone can see to raise that level of recognition.

So what could you do today to bring about a culture of appreciation and recognition in your team? Remember, people leave people so if you want to create an established, happy team you have to start somewhere and recognition is as good a place as any.