7/28/2016
Stop Stealing Your Own Employees
Ellen C. Wells
Employees are your biggest asset and your biggest expense. As such, you want them to work well and stick around a long time (if they’re good, of course). But sometimes those great workers are so good, they’re poached away. A recent article from Entrepreneur.com suggests the person stealing your best employees is actually you.
That’s right. You “steal” your best workers by promoting them upward. Entrepreneur.com points out there are three things that can happen when you promote a great employee (in this instance it’s a “doer” employee promoted to a management position):
• They do exactly what you expect them to do—acquire the knowledge and skills to be awesome at leading
• They become “super doers,” doing everything themselves rather than inspiring and leading others to do that work
• They fail miserably, causing you to not only lose a great “doer,” but also it ruins the team they were supposed to lead
How do you ensure #1 will happen and hedge your bets against #3? Here’s what they suggest:
• Do a trial run. Before promoting, give the employee one or two projects to lead that will showcase how he or she might handle themselves in a new role.
• Doing skills and leading skills are different. Break down the skills for the new position and critically analyze if the person has what it truly takes to step into her or his new position.
• Don’t promote out of desperation. If a role needs to be filled, take the time to fill it with the right person with the right skills. Don’t fill it just because an employee might leave if they don’t get the job.
• Train them. Employees new to a company are always trained to get them up to speed. The same works for employees going to a higher position within the company. Stick with them through the training period rather than just leaving them to figure out the new job on their own.
GP