3 Practical Ways to Retain Your Managers – Even When Things Are Really Tough

Ever wonder why your managers keep leaving despite all the effort you put into creating a thriving environment? It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially after you’ve invested so much time and energy into attracting top talent. When managers leave, it’s not just disruptive; it’s a hit to your leadership confidence and to the bottom line of the business. But the realirt is that the leadership climate has never been tougher with more VUCA than you can shake a stick at, and new challenges coming along on top of already new challenges. 

What could you do differently that will overcome this to keep your best managers in the team? Let's break it down.

1. Build Trust

Trust is the bedrock of a high-performing team, and it starts with you. When managing managers, your influence extends far beyond direct interactions. Research from Gallup shows that leaders account for up to 70% of the variance in employee engagement and trust plays a crucial part in that. Your actions set the tone for the entire management layer beneath you.

Without trust, collaboration, innovation, and morale crumble. In our High-Performance Leader program, we discuss and adopt the SERVICE model, which provides a robust framework for building and maintaining trust with your team. This model encompasses Safety, Empathy, Respect, Visibility, Integrity, Clarity, and Equity and helps leaders taolor .

In case that wasn't incentive enough: compared to people at low-trust companies, those at high-trust companies report 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, and 40% less burnout (Zak, P).

2. Create Connection

Connection, particularly through effective onboarding and ongoing support, is crucial. Many managers leave within their first 90 days due to inadequate onboarding from their leader, creating an even bigger headache (and commercial impact) for everyone. They are simply expected to get in and do the job—often a job they have not been prepared for. For new managers, this phase is even more critical as they transition into roles that require not just managing tasks but leading people.

Managers often feel isolated, bearing the brunt of pressures from both above (you) and below (their team). Helping them create a strong support network is crucial. Encourage peer connections and mentorship within your team that go beyond tasks. Regular check-ins, both one-on-one and in group settings, can build a sense of community, which in turn, is stickier for people to stay in the team. 

In fact, it's one of the things people talk about most as the benefit of being in the WoW Community we started three years ago—having access to "people like me going through things like I am" and those connections are still thriving.

Create opportunities to share experiences, brainstorm solutions, and provide emotional support. We see in all of our programs that the Connect and Reflect element is where the magic happens. The goal is to create an environment where managers feel they are not alone in their struggles and can rely on their peers for support and wisdom.

Also, ensure you stay connected with your team members. It's too easy to focus on WIP meetings, though often even these fall by the wayside amidst the storm of other meetings you are both in. Making time to connect at a personal level, even over a coffee, and to talk as humans, pays huge dividends. A 2015 study of 2.5 million manager-led teams in 195 countries found that workforce engagement improved significantly when supervisors had some form of daily communication with their team members.

3. Clarify Purpose & Impact

Managers, like all employees, need to see how their work contributes to the broader organizational goals. When managers understand the impact of their contributions, they feel more motivated and engaged. However, this understanding must be deeply ingrained at all levels of the organization.

We teach a framework called the Purpose Pyramid that our participants state is probably the biggest lightbulb moment they have when it comes to unlocking their and their team's performance. We work through clarifying and aligning the personal, role, team, and organizational Purposes for everyone, removing ambiguity.

Regularly communicate the organization’s mission and vision, and make sure these are not just words on a wall but lived values within the company, and show how each manager’s role fits into this vision. 

Celebrate progress milestones and show how each manager's efforts align with the company’s success. This not only reinforces the importance of their work but also aligns their daily tasks with the organization’s strategic objectives.

According to a study by McKinsey & Company, employees who report having a clear sense of purpose at work are 4.4 times more likely to be engaged and 1.7 times more likely to be satisfied with their jobs.

Additionally, help managers develop the skills to articulate this vision to their teams. When managers can clearly convey how their team's work contributes to the organization's success, it enhances the team's sense of purpose and motivation. 

Gallup research indicates that when leaders articulate a clear purpose, 78% of employees feel their leadership is effective. This clarity drives alignment and commitment, leading to improved performance and a more cohesive team. So not only will it reinforce your leadership impact, but it will enhance the management structure too.

The Power of Positive Leadership Development

The Center for Creative Leadership found that organizations with strong leadership development programs have a 24% higher profit margin than those without. This highlights the tangible benefits of investing in your managers' growth and well-being. The challenge many have is that they have reached roles where they are leading managers and have had no support since that first management 101 program when we know the skills and tools at this level are very different—we have discussed this in several previous blogs so feel free to check them out. 

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