Keeping Good People Engaged
What are you and others at your institution doing
to keep good people engaged and part of the team?
“As a manager, it is one of your responsibilities to keep talented people,” says Beverly
Kaye, co-author of Love ’Em or Lose ’Em: Getting
Good People to Stay (Berrett-Koehler Publishers,
Inc., 2005). During a recent interview with the
Center for Creative Leadership, Kaye focused on
five things to keep people engaged, learning, and
contributing.
Talk about the changing landscape.
Employees need to understand your perspective
about what’s going on in the organization and in
the industry. Talk about the trends and forces at work. What
is changing, where are the big challenges, and how is the
culture shifting?
Get a solid picture of talents, wants, and needs.
Employees should be communicating about their skills and
interests, and you should be paying attention. Be curious. Ask
each person what skills they are using and not using. Listen to
what they say about their strengths and weaknesses, interests
and dislikes, wants and needs.
Let them know what they don’t know. Share
your perceptions about development gaps—what
do employees need to learn or change? What are
they missing? Savvy managers also know that their
opinions aren’t the only ones that matter; they help
their employees see themselves as others see them.
Consider the possibilities. How can your
institution (not just your own department) use this
person differently? How can she or he gain new
experiences and learn new skills? Don’t limit your
thinking to only those strategies for advancement.
Co-develop a plan. Your job is not to give employees a
plan; it is to support them. Help them consider goals and
action steps for achieving goals. Together think through
potential obstacles and make contingency plans.
Leading Effectively, Center for Creative Leadership
e-newsletter, November 2008
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