“Fire the slugs,” says management expert Jeff Cortes. That’s good turnover and also it’s good for retention—all of your other employees have been wondering when you would act.
“There’s good and bad turnover,” says Cortes, author of the book, No Nonsense Retention, which he characterizes as a collection of no-nonsense ways to retain your best people.
Firing a non-performer—a slug— is good turnover. But when a top performer leaves to go elsewhere and your organization is left with a huge void, that’s bad turnover. It can affect the performance of the whole organization.
Turnover is very costly, Cortes adds. Depending on the study you look at, the impact of turnover ranges from three months of salary for a low level employee, to as high as 400 percent of the annual salary of an upper-level person.
“If you are going to maximize your organization’s performance you have to make a conscious, top-down management commitment to develop a no-nonsense approach to retention,” Cortes says.
Here are his top must-do actions for retaining the human assets you’ve worked so hard to acquire:
1. Fire the Slugs
Hold your people accountable for their performance, Cortes says. If they don’t solve the problem, then terminate them with respect and dignity. And here’s the big bonus from firing slugs—your good performers will love you. For sure, they’ve been stewing about having to carry most of the slug’s load.
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2. Start at the Top
Assess your supervisory and management team, says Cortes. Seventy percent of employees say that the worst thing about their jobs is their boss. Find out what’s wrong and fix it, Cortes urges. Identify the prima donnas and micromanaging control freaks, the whiners, complainers, and blamers. Get them basic supervisory training and improve their performance continuously.
If you are the boss, take ownership of this process, says Cortes.
3. Clean Up the House
Identify the non-performers. Identify the poor managers and supervisors. If they do not respond to training and show significant improvement, remove them from an influential role and replace them with someone that does what is truly desired and required for the role and position they are in, Cortes says.
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4. Manage Visibly
Get out of the ivory tower. Begin each day by walking around. Stroll around the floor several times a day. Meet the customers, talk with employees, visit with the supervisors, greet the vendors, help the delivery trucks load and unload. Get out of your office. Let people know you are there and that you care. The point here is that you set lead by example, Cortes explains. If they like you they are less likely to leave you. Visibility drives retention.
5. Care About Your People
If you don’t really care about your people, your business is doomed. Caring is the reason why people stay. Get to know your people. Learn what each person likes and enjoys. Listen to them and learn about their interests, families, and hobbies. Protect your people from harm and from others in your organization. People are loyal to those who care about them and care for them.
In tomorrow’s Advisor, Cortes’ tips 6 through 10, plus an introduction to the all-in-one HR website, HR.BLR.com.
It’s easy to forget that not all turnover is created equal: “good” turnover (like ditching the slugs) is a very different thing than losing your stars to your competitors. This post is a great reminder of that.
Great Article, Bad Turnover can be so costly for a business. Finding an employee that will do the workload for the wage that is being offered can be difficult.
I find the name-calling in this article offensive (i.e., “slugs”). There is no need to be disrespectful.
Perhaps we should fire the employee(s) who hired the slug(s)?
Like most forward-thinking organizations, we employ coaching, counseling and Performance Improvement Plans as the formal means to identify, inform and change unsatisfactory job performance and work habits. These steps, coupled with selecting and retaining respected first-line leaders who care and who serve as standard bearers (good role-models) seem to be the ingredients to our success. While these leaders and formal processes cannot save all non-performers, it does result in a unified team who perform tasks because it is the right thing to do…and because they have a work relationship with their leader (supervisor) and don’t want to let him/her or the team down.
This article only has tips 1-5. These are good so far; where are 6 – 10?
Lynn B: Please find the rest of the tips here: http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/archive/2011/07/25/HR_Management_Retention_Engagement.aspx
Thanks for reading!
Steve Bruce
I love this article. This is what I have been saying since 1984! I actually quit a great job due to “slugs,” (sorry – I mean non-performers, I don’t want to offend anyone) and the fact that management refused to address the situation and continued to reward them for bad behavior. They should read this article. Well done!