Consider this;
You’ve worked at your company for years and you work hard.
You’re committed.
You’ve gone above and beyond, when necessary working late nights and weekends to complete a project, submit a report, or get that proposal just right.
You’re loyal and you’re not looking to go anywhere.
Then you find out that your newest colleague is getting paid more than you, and that they’ve been given a fuel allowance and an extra weeks annual leave.
How are you feeling?
The wonderful Jennifer Bicknell, a specialist in workplace law and dispute prevention, and a great friend of mine, shared her lens of what she’s seeing out in the workplace world in her super informative (and hilarious) newsletter, Jen’s Workplace News. (I highly recommend subscribing!)
Here’s what she wrote:
“What am I seeing out there in the workplace world?
In industries where skilled workers are in high demand, workplaces are made up of two groups – the “loyals” and the “lured”.
The loyals are existing employees, not looking to leave.
The lured are new employees, wooed with above-market salaries and perks.
Everything is fine until the loyals find out about the lureds’ OTT packages.
Unless managers ensure the loyals are taken care of, they will soon become another employer’s lureds.”
Jen’s lens shows, once again, just how important a managers role is and how critical they are in retaining the “loyals”.
Remember, people don’t leave a job, they leave a manager.
If someone who isn’t a great fit for your team leaves, it’s often a blessing in disguise. But if a loyal, high performer leaves because you didn’t do enough as their manager, that’s on you.
What are you doing to take care of your loyals?
What are you offering them in the way of coaching, support and development to ensure they stay a loyal and don’t become someone else’s lured?
If you can’t answer those two questions, then you’re playing a risky game.
What’s one thing you could do today that steps you up as a manager and shows that you care?
Just one thing.
Could you coach a new skill to a team member?
Give some feedback?
Ask someone how they’re going?
