The stories this employee retention speaker and employee retention expert hears never cease to amaze me. A friend of mine works in food service for a large institution with a huge cafeteria so they serve meals three times a day. He prides himself on serving meals that are nutritious, taste good, and are appealing to the eye. Recently, while opening the lettuce from a supplier he noticed that the lettuce was slimy…not a good sign! He brought this up to his boss who basically grunted, mumbled something, and walked away.
My friend was shocked by this interaction and felt the situation had to be addressed. So, he went over his boss’s head and went to the manager of the department. The manager was appalled by the action of my friend’s supervisor, thanked him for bringing it up, and told my friend he was going to talk to the supplier and make sure there was not a repeat getting substandard lettuce as it was not consistent with the goals of the department as well as the organization.
You might think this was an insignificant incident. Not to my friend. He takes his job seriously and strives to do quality work. It’s really about respecting your people and addressing their concerns. Had the manager not reacted properly, this is the type of incident that creates disengaged employees. If the manager had blown it off, he would have thought, “If the organization doesn’t care, why should I?” If this happens enough a person will probably begin thinking about leaving. The organization takes a double hit of lack of engagement that can build to employee turnover. Then, magnify this sort of action by other leaders in the organization. You then have an organization that starts to spiral out of control.
Driving employee engagement should be a part of your employee retention strategies. This employee recruitment expert tells groups I speak to that it’s the little things that make a difference. When the little things pile up you not only turn people off but end up with those people becoming turnover statistics. With that in mind, the next time an employee tells you, “This lettuce is slimy,” you need to respond appropriately and check it out!
Remember…Give Your Employees C.R.A.P.® (Caring, Respect, Appreciation, and Praise) Why? Because C.R.A.P. Works to improve your employee retention!
