Don’t shift the goal posts if you want your staff to hang around

HR expert explains how not to behave if you want to retain your employees

Don’t shift the goal posts if you want your staff to hang around

Insurance News

By Sam Boyer

Alright, agency owners and broker managers, listen up. This is what you need to do – or, not do – to be a good boss and keep your sales folk content.

According to HR “guru” Rex Conner, owner of Mager Consortium, “the most common source of unhappiness occurs in the relationship with a boss.”

That’s a big one, right? We know leadership comes from the top-down, so making sure you set the right tone with your employees is – obviously – the key to keeping the machine working smoothly.

Objectivity is the answer, Connor says.

“The most common source of those conflicts comes when the boss is in the position of making a subjective decision about someone’s performance, or their pay, or their work schedule, or how they will be recognized,” he said. “If those processes are objective, so the boss doesn’t have to make a subjective decision, the biggest source of conflict is removed. If all work processes are objectified, people will have to search harder to find a source of unhappiness.”

It’s all about straight-shooting. Make sure your communication is straight-forward and accurate. Avoid subjectivity – don’t change the playing field, or move the goal posts, or any other sports-themed management speak. Your staff just want to know what’s expected of them, so that they can deliver on their tasks.

“Clear, objective communication about people’s performance, the outcomes expected of them, how their performance is evaluated, how they are paid, how they will qualify for pay raises, promotions, and recognition, goes a long way to happiness in the workplace,” Connor says.

“The next greatest bang-for-the-buck is to objectively identify the skills they need to bring to the job and the skills in which they will be trained. Then, provide performance-based training for those skills so they are confident that they can perform.”


Related stories:
How to avoid a toxic workplace
Market analysis: happy staff equals profit

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