And what you can do to keep them…

It’s often said, “Employees leave managers, not companies.” While this statement is not always true, we find that supervisor/employee conflicts are a big part of turnover. A poll by Gallup supports this belief: They found that up to 50% of employees who quit cite their manager as the main reason. One cause is that, as employees get promoted into supervisory roles, they’re not appropriately trained in how to manage people, which can increase turnover. HR should take steps to ensure managers receive proper training on coaching and communication techniques.

 

People naturally want to work where they’re valued. Empathetic relationships between managers and employees can be the key to lower turnover and higher productivity. Employee turnover is extraordinarily expensive, so it’s important to take whatever actions you can to mitigate it.

 

Some specific reasons your top employees might quit include:

 

• Lack of feedback or coaching. Sixty-two percent of U.S. workers want more input on their performance, including 90 percent of Millennials who expect daily feedback. Executives and HR need to ensure their managers are partnering with employees to coach performance.

 

• Not feeling valued or recognized. Ensuring that employees feel heard and acknowledged can make a significant difference in morale and employee longevity.

 

• Lack of professional development. Your top talent is already great at what they do, but they want to continue developing their skills to become even better. Ensuring that professional development is a top priority at your organization will lead to top talent sticking around.

 

• Lack of communication. An indication of comfort level is the degree to which an employee feels comfortable going to their manager with any type of question. Honest, specific feedback from and to your employees in real time is important. Focus on direct, one-on-one conversations when possible.

 

Help your managers do more “Good” and less “Bad” and “Ugly.”

 

The Good Coaching Both for managers and employees Acknowledgment Shine the spotlight. Give credit where credit is due   Performance Reviews Make them quarterly instead of annual to provide more timely feedback

The Bad   Micromanagement Bad for the employee, bad for the manager Poor communication Leads to mistakes and uncertainty

The Ugly Favoritism Can drive a wedge and make teamwork impossible Intimidation Prevents the development of a positive culture

With so many allegations and cases of sexual harassment and assault being levied against media, sports, entertainment, and political figures (and many terminations and resignations as a result of them) it is extremely important to be prepared for the occurrence of similar incidents in your workplace.

The   was founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke to help survivors of sexual violence – particularly young women of color from low wealth communities – find pathways to healing. The movement’s vision from the beginning was to address both the lack of resources for survivors of sexual violence and to build a community of advocates, driven by survivors, who are at the forefront of creating solutions to help stop sexual violence in their communities.

While it generally flew under the radar for many people, the movement became incredibly recognizable this year when the #MeToo hashtag was introduced on social media. In the first 24 hours of it being publicized, the hashtag was used 12 million+ times on Facebook. This movement will no doubt lead to increased numbers of women and men feeling empowered to come forward and raise concerns about sexual harassment.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

A poll conducted by Wall Street Journal and NBC found that 48% of female workers said they had personally experienced sexual harassment at work. Meanwhile, 41% of employed men said they’d witnessed sexual harassment occur at work. And the vast majority of survey respondents agreed that sexual harassment in the workplace is quite common: 67% said they believe that sexual harassment takes place in most or almost all work environments, including 62% of men and 71% of women.

Leading through these changes certainly starts at the top of the organization, but by no means

stops there. HR must play a key role but should not be alone in managing claims that are levied. The entirety of business leadership should be involved in preventing sexual harassment. Claims are to be taken seriously, and an investigation – prompt, objective and thorough – is imperative. Further, ongoing training and discussions with every employee should be a requirement for all businesses.

Consistent, continuous engagement with the workforce; understanding the organization’s

culture (and cultures within the culture); routine checkups on how things are going and what can improve; and an open communication policy can all help mitigate sexual harassment allegations.

Beginning action when a complaint arises is, to a certain extent, already too late. Your EAP can

function as a partner to help foster a culture of effective leadership, management training, and

open communication to help work through issues early in the process.

Best Practices for Helping to Prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

• Ensuring HR attends harassment prevention training so it has its finger on the pulse of the organization and is being proactive.
• Reissuing anti-harassment policies, complaint procedures and anti-retaliation policies, in light of recent events.
• Communicating that it is okay for employees to make a sexual harassment complaint, and that no action will be taken against the worker for filing a complaint.
• Reiterating that if an employee even suspects retaliatory behavior, they should immediately report the incident to HR.

 

The me too. website has published a comprehensive list of resources that covers everything from legal resources to information for male, military and LGBTQI survivors of sexual harassment and violence.

 

In addition to our other services, EANNC provides educational and prevention training for employees and supervisors on eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace. If you’d like more information or a consultation, contact us today.

 

[CK1]Note that this is how the name of the movement is branded on their website: lowercase “m” and “t” with a period after “too.”