As 2007 comes to an end, nothing may be more important to management than to review just how engaged your employees are. Here’s why— because employee turnover has become extremely costly and nationally the turnover rate averages 10 percent a year. According to Cornell University and Saratoga Institute research, estimates of the total cost of losing a single employee ranges from 30 to 150 percent of an annual salary for both hourly and salaried workers. Do the numbers. The fact is you can’t afford high turnover. And, worse yet, it’s often the best employees who leave. Fifty-four percent of employees who leave do so because of having to deal with “disengaged co- workers.” This according to research conducted by The Kabachnick Group, a Florida-based consulting firm whose president is the author of “I Quit, But Forgot to Tell You,” an eye-opening book recommended as a “Top Pick” by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).
    Despite employee disengagement becoming a major problem, this firm’s research found that 92 percent of employees say their companies fail to deal effectively with poor performers. That merely compounds the problem. Retaining these disengaged employees is far worse than letting them go—regardless of how valuable the employees once were because when these disengaged workers stay they infect the rest of the workforce. So, what’s a manager to do? Here are some recommendations from the book:

• Be more diligent about holding people accountable. In the long run, employees who want to perform expect to be held accountable.
• Define accountabilities clearly and get consensus early on; don’t wait for the one-year performance review, that’s way too late.
• Address poor performance immediately. Then set required behavior changes and time frames in which to see that improvement.
• Spend more time with your star performers than you do with your poor performers. Devoting too much time to poor performers will demoralize your best performers.
• Involve star employees in aspects of the business that are not part of their regular routine. This recognizes their value.
• When hiring, be sure to hire only those who match your culture as well as the specific benchmarks for the job. If there’s a disconnect between your company culture and the employees wants and needs, there’s bound to be problems.

    The reality is that no one takes a job intending to fail and no employer hires with the intent to fire. Both parties only want the best; they both want to succeed. So, what happens? Here is what pinpoints the very soul of disengagement:

• Most disengaged workers were once engaged, caring, productive workers.
• Disengaged workers are not necessarily poor performers.
• Disengagement usually begins with either a new boss or a boss who becomes disengaged.
• Disengagement often occurs after changes in the responsibilities of a position.
• Disengagement often sets in after a promotion.
• Disengagement begins when learning and development end.

    Keeping employees engaged has more to do with you—the manager, the leader—than it does with the individual employee. Here are eight guidelines that engaged leaders follow:

     Assess your beliefs about your own job.

    Do you love what you do? The most successful managers know that their work should be a source of energy, not exhaustion. If your job is not satisfying, have the courage to do something about it. Do yourself and everyone else a favor: QUIT!

     Adapt and adjust your behaviors to suit each individual you manage.

    If you do love your job, recognize that the foundation of excellent leadership and management rests on three important principles: Understanding your personal communication preference and work style; Discovering and understanding other’s personal styles; adapting your style to that of others in order to build and maintain rapport.
   

     Honor individuality.

    Don’t try to change employees habits or styles to fit your perception of how tasks must be done. Respect individual preferences unless they are truly detrimental to customers of your business. Ask yourself:
   

• Is the person interfering with the progress of work being done?
• Is the person interfering with fellow team members and their work activities?
• Is the person damaging the image, reputation or services of the company? Measure the employee’s results, not the process.

     Pay attention to your best employees.

    Top performers are all too often inadvertently ignored because managers are too busy focusing on problem employees. However, if you consider the advantages of improving a top performer’s productivity by just 10 percent, rather than improving a mediocre worker’s performance by the same amount, you’re far ahead. And, keep in mind; the best employees are always the first to leave when managers focus on their poor performers.

     React to poor performers quickly.

    Your employees generally know before you do who is slacking off and not contributing. Make it easy for caring employees to come to you with concerns about fellow employee’s work habits. Emphasize that these conversations are confidential, yet also indicate that you want specific examples—not random observations. Then, act on this information.

     Pay Attention to the little things.

    Figure out little ways that you can say “thank you” to your star performers in unique ways that let them know you recognize their achievements.

     Create a greenhouse for employees to grow.

    Foster an environment that nourishes each individual’s interests, skill development and desire to learn. Encourage employees to set goals and to dream; then give them the tools to reach them. Just like healthy, flourishing plants need food, water and care, people need care and nurturing too.

     Think with your heart.

    Place yourself in your employee’s shoes. What can you say or do to make them feel appreciated? Employees work for compensation, but they stay for compassion.
    People love what they do when they’re in the right position, feel valued and are given opportunities to grow. People want to achieve their highest level of potential. They want to be seen in the best light. They want to be fully engaged. Yet Kabachnick research found that 84 percent of people enjoy what they do, but not where they do it. That’s where you—the manager come into play.
    It’s your responsibility to manage each and every one of your employees—to be sure that they have been hired for the job that truly fits them and their specific talents and needs; to know their talents, their skills and their value; to nurture them and grow them, and when appropriate, to recognize and reward them. When you spend time doing this you will get them to love what they do and they will be yours—and fully engaged. It’s up to you!

Bette Price CMC, is a Certified Management Consultant and author of True Leaders (Dearborn Trade Press). She writes, speaks and consults on marketing, management and leadership issues and may be reached at www.PriceGroupLeadership.com. Sign up for her True Leader Letter.