
How To Lose Your Best Employees - 0cool
http://www.fastcompany.com/3019050/leadership-now/10-ways-to-lose-your-best-employees
======
edw519
11\. Make decisions that affect workers for which they have valuable input,
but don't seek that input.

12\. Make decisions that affect workers for which they have valuable input,
seek that input, but ignore it and do what you want anyway.

13\. Say one thing and do another. (Mission Statement = A, What We Really Do =
B)

14\. Have no idea what it actually takes to get things done.

15\. Have no idea who people are and what they do.

16\. Believe that management is "over" workers. (Fail to understand that until
a worker actually builds something, management has nothing to manage and
ownership has nothing to count.)

17\. Treat workers as unequals.

18\. Act like children.

19\. Pay late.

20\. Drive the business into the toilet.

21\. Make work so difficult or pointless that you drive your best workers to
Hacker News.

~~~
jonnathanson
_" 13\. Say one thing and do another. (Mission Statement = A, What We Really
Do = B)"_

This, a thousand times over.

Mission statements are uniquely infuriating when their values are in blatant
contradiction to how the business is being operated. I'd rather a company not
have a mission statement _at all_ than have a hypocritically practiced one.

A hypocritical mission statement turns into a cruel joke, and it serves only
to reinforce employees' disenchantment with the firm -- especially when it's
being touted in the press, or waved in employees' faces.

~~~
mtrimpe
Judging from spending a year in a US high-school when I was 16 this is as a
character trait that's woven deeply into the American psyche though.

~~~
talmand
Please keep in mind that you are judging an entire spectrum of people based on
your experience in one high school among many thousands of high schools,
across thousands of counties, and across fifty states.

That's like saying I met someone from a foreign country once, didn't like him,
and therefore I know all people from that country are jerks.

~~~
mtrimpe
Very true; that's also why I made sure to explicitly mention what my judgement
was based on.

~~~
talmand
I don't think you understand my point.

~~~
mtrimpe
I think I do understand your point, but I think that my statement has more
emotional content for you than it does for me.

I've spent significant amounts of time in a few different cultures and through
that I have developed deep appreciation for the various dimensions in which
cultures differ and, like the famous story of the fish in the water, how it's
inherently impossible to realise what is cultural and what is not until you
enter a culture which exists on different point in these dimensions.

If you're familiar with Hofstede's work [1] he already provides us with five
cultural dimensions he found most salient and useful in describing cultural
differences.

I merely posited that, based on my experience and compared to Dutch culture,
the US I saw was far on the far end of a dimension I would call "distance
between the projected identity and real-world behaviour." This manifested it
in all sorts of ways, from abstinence only education and large amounts of teen
pregnancy, to being harsh on drug use but doing it much more than I was used
to, to the more well known examples of exaggeration on resumes being the norm.

It is also not surprising that this is the dimension that was most salient to
my mind, since Dutch culture is famous for being extremely parsimonious and
straight-forward so the cultural distance on this dimensions is probably very
large.

P.S. Hofstede is actually a Dutchman, so interestingly enough this perspective
itself could very well be a Dutch cultural trait, perhaps caused by us being
among the earliest cultures who conducted world-wide trade.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede's_cultural_dimensions_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede's_cultural_dimensions_theory)

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kadabra9
This seems so obvious and straightforward, but it bears repeating:

If you value someone as an employee, show them.

Whether this is through salary increases, promotions, or even just pulling
someone aside for five minutes and saying "Hey, you're doing a great job."
....show them. Especially on younger employees, its amazing how powerful a
moment of unsolicited praise from a manager or senior level employee can be.

Obviously a bigger salary and promotions help as well, but companies often act
surprised when someone they considered their "best employee" walks out, but
how would this so called "best employee" even know they were highly valued in
the first place when they cant get a raise that keeps up with inflation, or
their manager can't even take five minutes every now and then to congratulate
him/her on a job well done?

~~~
drzaiusapelord
>"Hey, you're doing a great job."

I never understood this advice. Not to sound arrogant, but I know I'm good.
What I need from you is enough financial compensation so that my
skillset/experience matches up with a competitive salary or I'm going to go
elsewhere for that salary. I'm not a child. I don't need reassurance and
tricks like "hey lets have casual Thursdays and a pingpong table" are NOT
substitutes for the money I deserve.

~~~
hackinthebochs
Completely agreed. Praise from the company is basically worthless to me; I
don't need to be told that I'm good, if I'm doing well I'll know it. If you
truly value my services then the only meaningful way to show that is through
increased salary. Anything less is simply an attempt at manipulation.

Recognition in front of peers is good for other reasons, but its not a
replacement for financial reward.

~~~
aestra
>I don't need to be told that I'm good, if I'm doing well I'll know it.

This might sound strange to you, but some subset of the population won't know
it. Ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger_effect[1]? Actual competence may weaken
self-confidence and the unskilled might have illusory superiority.

There are also many cultural and social environments where an individual
person comes from which gives them a negative self image no matter how well
they are performing. It might not even occur to them they are doing a good
job. Victims of abuse, for example.

Taking a second or two to say "good job" gives the person actual feedback. I'm
not saying you should make a show, but job feedback is important.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)

~~~
hackinthebochs
My point didn't quite come off how I intended. I do agree that a "good job"
here and there are essential. Praise for a job well done should be an integral
part of being a competent manager or tech lead. But this can't be seen as a
replacement for communicating worth to the employee by financial rewards. When
the company itself tries to set up some process for praising good work as an
alternative for financial rewards, that's where it becomes manipulation.

~~~
aestra
Absolutely.

------
smackfu
Another very common one is chipping away at any and all costs until it's
ridiculous. This is usually because cutting costs is an easy way for
management to make their numbers if revenue is flat. At first it really is
cutting the fat, but eventually you run out of fat and start making life
difficult for employees.

It's especially bad when the size of the cuts is meaningless compared to the
cost of a given employee. Making a $100k+ employee work with a 3-year-old
$1000 laptop for an extra year shouldn't make any sense in a proper company,
but it's incredibly common.

~~~
johngalt
IT here. We have the hardware debate with the business guys relentlessly.
Understand that the business guys just see it like this: If <replacement
parts> \+ <Tech time> is less than the cost of a new machine, then repair the
old one. Additionally 'why throw out something that works?' These two thought
processes lead to some harmful decisions regarding hardware. I've seen 5-7
year old machines being used by people who bring in millions.

~~~
Nimi
Sounds like you tried to confront them with the argument that "investing
another 1000$ in this guy's machine will change your bottom line in the
millions". What did they say in response?

~~~
johngalt
I've tried various angles, some more successful than others. The 'increased
productivity' pitch fails universally. I never even mention that anymore. On
average it has a negative impact. Managers are too jaded to that pitch. Their
'I'm being sold something' antenna goes up. It's not that they have some
cogent counter argument, it's just that the discussion stops.

If you want to make the hardware situation better. I recommend these two
approaches.

1\. Loss aversion. Detail what an unplanned outage costs. Lost work, man
hours, even lost business if it's bad enough timing. Business guys have a
respect for the missing nail that lost the war.

2\. Cheapness. Buying a $1000 laptop every two years is better than a $2000
laptop every four. Better average hardware and less paying guys like me to fix
broken machines. Business guys are more likely to write small checks.
Paradoxically you are spending the same amount of money, but you can sell it
to them like you are spending less.

Above all be respectful. They aren't idiots, they may have issues to worry
about that you aren't aware of.

------
linker3000
'n') Require Director-level approval to spend about £20 on 2 USB powered hubs
AND have the director visit to inspect the two laptops that need the hubs just
to make sure you're not being extravagant.

------
gesman
The only worse thing to training employees and losing them is NOT training
them and keeping them.

\--Zig Ziglar

------
shuaib
Lets be fair guys. Someone needs to articulate "10 ways to get fired by your
best employer", now too.

~~~
antjanus
Man, now I want to write that.

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ChikkaChiChi
My #1 - Treat your employees not as assets but as negative impacts to your
bottom line. You'd do it better yourself if you had the time, but instead you
had to hire me.

I have Stockholm Syndrome. My biggest problem is that I'm now being overworked
so much (intentionally) that I collapse from exhaustion when I go home and
don't have the energy to spend looking for a new job.

~~~
dcpdx
Just quit. Then you'll have all the time in the world to look for a new job.

~~~
vonmoltke
Not everyone has the luxury to tolerate that risk. I considered doing that
myself, but considering how long it took me to find a job while employed I
would have been looking at multiple months of unemployment before landing
something, which would have caused its own stresses, pressures, and
exhaustion.

~~~
ChikkaChiChi
This.

At least here I know what I know, even if I don't like it. But that's also me
convincing myself that I'm ok here.

The worst part is the demoralization that happens. You start to feel like you
are becoming less useful to other organizations.

------
johngalt
My #1: Act as if you only have to do what is legally required. Bonus points if
you use this as an excuse to play hardball and avoid keeping promises.

I've had two employers change their employee benefits packages/bonus
structures sharply negatively within <1 year of being hired. In both cases I
went up the chain and asked what other compensation I could expect. I was very
reasonable and offered them several alternatives. I'm empathetic to a tough
situation, and am willing to be flexible.

In both cases it was like talking to a tape recording. 'benefits are not
guaranteed, and legally we are within our rights to change at any time' and
'sorry it's policy hands are tied'. Yes I understand that you _can_ do that,
but you've effectively rescinded what we negotiated when I recently agreed to
work here.

The most frustrating part of the whole thing is how quickly things change once
a two week notice is given. As if the retention offer does anything but
underscore their dishonesty.

------
nilkn
> Keep decision-making securely ensconced in the airless bunker of the
> executive wing. Avoid empowering mid-tier employees lest they suddenly
> become entrepreneurial and unpredictable.

Just my opinion, but I think (8) is the most insightful of these and perhaps
the least obvious (though they are all obvious to an extent). (8) is also the
hardest to do right. You don't want to drag a developer to five executive
meetings a day so that he doesn't have time to do development; that could in
itself drive him/her away. But you also don't want any of your developers to
feel like they don't know what's going on with the business at a higher level,
and if they have an insight there should be an easy and comfortable avenue for
them to discuss it.

------
pekru
A shortened list

#0. Force usage of shitty/hopeless tools/frameworks at work.

#1. Pay late

#2. Ask for TPS reports

#3. Recruit a bunch of abusive retards for middle/senior management

These four, for sure!

------
netcan
#0 Be in a time, place and industry where employees have options.

..

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protomyth
There is a problem with the suggestion in #6 and it applies to management.
Some companies believe they need to do this for management, and since the
managers know they will be moving, they optimize for short term gain at the
expense of long term sustainability.

A favorite tactic of managers is to fire Q&A and support staff. This is a
short term win on the bottom line, but will kill things later. It makes them
look good as they get to say they "optimized the workflow". Another excellent
one is to put a freeze on equipment buying and let it rot.

If you become a big wig and are in a company inclined to move people around
for experience, please, please, please add something to your evaluations that
look at the position they left 1 year ago and judge them on the
sustainability. If they don't help enforce a sustainable process, then they
will be fired as they are just a selfish, game-player.

------
krmmalik
The article is a little sparse, but great points. I put a Haiku Deck on
something similar but from a Good Manager vs Bad Manager perspective in terms
of what bad managers are doing that affects their ability to retain talent.

I can link it here if anyone is interested(?)

~~~
GFischer
I am, can you link to it? :)

I also want to find some research a professor once mentioned, about the traits
that employees associated with good managers/bosses (I recall that almost all
were personal, almost none technical).

~~~
krmmalik
Here's the deck: [http://www.haikudeck.com/p/BdYQODxkxD/good-manager-bad-
manag...](http://www.haikudeck.com/p/BdYQODxkxD/good-manager-bad-manager)

For the research you could try looking up the works of Patrick Lioncini, he
also has a great book on the subject called "five dysfunctions of a team".

In my experience, poor talent management and execution always comes down to
egos, so yes, you would be right in thinking that it's almost always a
personal level issue. When egos are involved, that's what you'll get.

See an answer of mine on Quora also: [http://qr.ae/I5brc](http://qr.ae/I5brc)

~~~
GFischer
Thank you, will do!

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mrcactu5
more bloggers should use creative rhetoric. instead of yet another soapbox "10
things you should do article" he plausibly argues the other side.

"training is costly, don't do it."

the irony here is like a cup of coffee.

------
hiccup
#0 Don't pay anything close to what the employee is worth. Underpay, furlough,
slow-pay your best employees to really build that desire to see if the grass
is greener elsewhere.

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ttty
Don't even say "thanks" when you save them 10000€, when nobody asked me to do
anything...

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djscram
Pretty sure the last place I worked did all ten of those. And it did lose
anyone who was any good. The joke was that the only way to get respect was to
leave and get re-hired.

~~~
vonmoltke
The defense industry has three paths to real advancement:

1) Become the rock star/golden child for a higher-up who pulls you along as
they rise 2) Move from company to company every so often to get positions with
higher salary grade and responsibility 3) Become the oracle of technical
knowledge in some narrow but crucial specialty

------
stale
it's 10/10 for my current employer :)

~~~
alan_cx
Um, errr, eeek...... you have implied you are not one of their best employees,
since its 10/10 and you are still there....

Doh? ;)

~~~
levosmetalo
Given the smiley at he end of the parent post, he probably won't be there for
a long time.

~~~
stale
Bingo :) Although they are promising some advancement so I'll see.

------
gesman
Paying MIN("DOE", "market rate", AVG('other employees')) to the best
employees.

