why staff resign

.. extracted from thestar on 5 April 2012)...

If you are running an organisation, staff retention is a critical issue. If there is a trend of resignation, for example, the average length of services for a given position is low, then, it is a good idea to recheck the management style.

While there are many factors that affect why staff resign, the research by the writer came to conclusion that people actually quit their bosses not the job. The exist interview, formal or informal, may not reveal the whole truth. Most people will conceal the truth, as it can be hurtful or damaging.

The followings are some of the quoted factors why people left...

a. Managing style and skills.

While the term managing be can a generic and encompassing word, we can start to view it using the Henry Fayol's words of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling. It is difficult to work with bosses who give unclear instruction or working with multiple organisation structures, both formal and informal. You may come across bosses who will blame the staff for any mistakes while they want to take credits for all the successes.

b. Micro- manage

The bosses may be doing this because they do not trust the staff or probably they do not know a better way to manage. The intervention can be frustrating and after a number of occurrences, the staff may withdraw and leave it to the bosses. You may see some bosses may transgress a couple of levels to "manage the roots of the problems".

c.Hidden agenda

Works or jobs can be viewed in a number of perspectives. When the level of trust is low, the staff may start to question the intents of a certain plans or project. They doubt the sincerity especially when there appear to be disparity of words, actions and attentions. The best way to overcome this problem is to be transparent in the way they relate to the staff.

d. Not delivering promise

It can be at different levels. On personal level, it can a simple promise to pay the salary on time. In fact, this is the basic of the contract of employment. If it is broken, it speaks volume of the integrity of organisation. On the tasks or assignment level, it can the assignment of resources to fulfill the critical mission for the organisation.

While the above are some of the reasons why staff resign, there may be other push and pull factors. The younger generation may like to venture for experiences and opportunities and the elders will be looking for serenity and meanings.

Quality of Good Leaders

In a recent survey, among the top three reasons why people choose to stay in an organization is the quality of the leaders. When asked further, what are the characteristics of a good leader that you prefer to work for?. These are their answers.

a. Open mind and good listeners.

Being a good listeners alone is not enough, what is needed is the willingness to consider the feedback. This will encourage people to speak without fear. It helps the leaders to identify the blind spots which, if ignored, can be detrimental to the organisation.

b. Being Objective and Impartial.

This is one action that can spoil the other good things a leader had done. Being objective are required in the decisions of the leaders. There should be a hidden agenda or what appear to be favoring a certain people.

c. The leaders have to have the competency and the desire to achieve.

The basic element of willing and able to do always discussed in management. To gain respect, a leader had to show that he has the knowledge and skill in the area he is entrusted, and on top of that he need to display his readiness to work to achieve the desired goals.

While leadership quality to steer the organistion to achieve their objective is important, the ability to develop oneself is also strongly seeked upon by the staff. It is rare to find staff who do not like to see himself develop. As such, many of the workers now will be looking for the opportunities to retool and develop himself, especially if you are still young and can look up to bigger and meaningful future.

Lead by Example: The Effective Leadership

Leadership has been an area of interest for both the researchers, academician and the practitioners themselves. The inspired leaders to be will very much interest to learn the job's skills and learn from the experiences of others. The researchers had identified 5 key elements that can produce the highly competitive leaders. They are:

1. Lead by example.

The leader is the role model. The how to elements of effective leaders have to be positively demonstrated by the leaders in such away to encourage the staff to follow his foot-steps. That mean the leader would be able to show how to implement the following stated practices .

2. Inspired a shared vision.

This may have many subsets, firstly he should be able to build up a credible vision, then get it to be shared and trusted by other people to the extend that the vision is owned and driven by the people. There are various ways to get it shared, one of which is to get the staff involved in the formulation of the vision.

3. Challenge the existing processes.

It is too often that we are still stuck or inherit outdated processes or way of doing things. If it was good for the company last year, it does not mean it is acceptable now. Only by challenging it that the processes can be improved.

4. Enable other to Act.

A way to be thought through on how to get other to take the lead. The people below you may need time to learn and they may make mistake or move slower then if you were to do yourself. Every body need time and spaces to grow. You need to encourage and guide them.

5. Encourage them by heart.

People can sense if you are sincere or not and most would like to be successful. Give them chance and sincere guidance, then they will grow and bloom.

The effective leaders would lead by example and make their staff grow. When the people grow, the company will grow too.