Don’t Let a Downward Spiral Turn into a Workplace Tornado

The departure of a few slackers or toxic employees can be a welcome occurrence. You may even think to yourself: “Good riddance!”

But if your organization continually loses good people? That can create a downward spiral that drains productivity, destroys morale and puts you and your team in a real bind.

Don’t let turnover spiral out of control.

Bruce Tulgan at RainMakerThinking has been measuring the impact of employee turnover for decades. In his recent whitepaper, “Winning the Talent War: Building a Winning Culture of Attraction, High-Performance & Retention,” available for download here, Tulgan shares the following advice minimizing unwanted turnover by creating an upward spiral of retention and exceptional performance:

Focus on average employees.

Too often, good employees lose interest in a job or develop negative feelings about an organization because they are struggling with their work. Inadequate training, extremely challenging projects or a lack of time or resources can make them feel stressed and disengaged – marking the beginning of a downward spiral for these mid-level performers. They mentally “check out” at this point and decide to leave long before they actually quit.

Start an upward spiral.

To prevent these cascading events from spinning out of control, give your average employees the attention they need. Help them see their targets at work more clearly and aim better at those targets. By nurturing them in their work, you send the message that they and their contributions are important. When an employee feels valued, is clear on their goals, and understands how their work makes an impact, they work a little faster and a little better.

If you notice an employee is struggling, help them improve so they feel better about – and more engaged in – their job:

• Work with them to identify what is going wrong and how to make things go better.
• Break down overwhelming projects, responsibilities or tasks into manageable pieces.
• Guide your employee in accomplishing one very small piece at a time, so they build a string of successes. In the process, the employee is likely to learn, grow and feel increasingly competent.

When you nurture an average employee’s performance and development, you restore hope in their potential for advancement, success and increased earnings. It’s not easy, but doing the hard work of creating “wins” for your employees shifts momentum and starts creating an upward spiral.

How can you start an upward spiral of retention and high performance?

For insights and practical tips on building a high-performance, high-retention culture, get the full report.

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To recruit the best candidates – ones who fit, perform, succeed and stay – partner with a national staffing firm like PrideStaff. Contact us today to learn more about our On Target fulfillment process.