How To Lose An Employee In Ten Weeks Or Less

I think this post is geared more towards sales managers, or managers in general, rather than employees. In my career I've been a customer service manager, a service manager, a sales manager, a branch manager, and even a general manager.  I've managed teams as small as 4 people and as big as 250 employees. One thing that I've learned is that I did well only because of my people, and I always did well.  That's the truth.   So I tried to hire the best people and then train them well so they could be successful and in turn I would be successful.  As a result both my professional and personal life improved, and I made life long friends in the process. 

However there are MANY, MANY, managers in the field who don't understand this concept.  They don't lead their employees, instead they manipulate them.  If you want to fail as a manager here are 5 things you can do to ensure your complete and utter failure as a leader and as a human being:

1.) Lie to your employees : Nothing is worse than a manager who is dishonest.  The foundation for every relationship is trust and if your employees don't trust you then they won't work hard for you.  I'm not saying you need to practice full disclosure but you can't be lying to your employees all the time.  I had one manager that would make a joke when I asked him a serious question because he couldn't handle telling the truth.  It was ridiculous and eventually he was fired but I couldn't understand why he had such a hard time being honest.  You wanna lose an employee early on, lie to them in the interview.  The minute they figure out you lied, then you've lost credibility and eventual you'll lose the employee.

2.) Mess with their money - I find it amusing that manager's don't get this concept.  If you hire someone at 40K then pay them 40K.  Don't tell them that the base is actually 38K but with commissions it will be well over 40K.  That's not what they were promised and it's not what they were expecting.  They were expecting a base of 40K and then the commissions.  In addition, don't offer them something in writing and then change it later on.  Like a car allowance, or phone reimbursement, or even a company car.  If you committed to them in writing then honor the damn piece of paper!  How much will it cost you to lose that employee?  A lot more than the nickel and dimes you're saving on phone bills. 

3.) Manage through intimidation - In the past, this was a common way for managers to get employees to do their jobs, but it doesn't work anymore because good employees just leave to find another job.  I know the economy is bad and there are a myriad of employees out there to chose from but why take a chance hiring someone else if you're not committed to their success?  Intimidating them is only going to cause resentment and eventually they're going to quit.  It's that simple.  Why would anyone stay in an abusive relationship when they don't need to?  A good employee will always be able to find a good job.

4.) Micro Management - "In business management, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of his or her subordinates or employees. Micromanagement generally has a negative connotation." -Wikipedia

I remember going into an interview and telling the VP, "Do not micro manage me, cause if you do I can guarantee you I will quit.  I want to be successful or fail on my terms.  If you hire me, it's because you have confidence in my ability to get the job done, not because you have to look over my shoulder to see if I'm doing everything right."  Two years later, he was promoted, a new VP came in who tried to micro manage me, and I quit.  In my exit interview I told the HR person, they should fire that new VP he doesn't know how to lead people.  5 years later, and that moron is still in place.  Why?  He's best friends with the company president...politics.

5.) Have an open, but closed door policy - Every company I have ever worked with,  claims they have an "open door" policy when it comes to addressing employee concerns.  That is bullshit. I have had managers, good managers, who had open door policies and they were very successful.  However when a company says it has an "open door" to voice concerns and then the people who file through the open door are labeled a "whiner" or a "trouble maker", then that's no really an open door.  It's more like a swinging door.  One you would find in a kitchen, saloon, or a roach motel. 
"Employees check in but they don't check out."   Smart employees will pick up on a company that doesn't address people's concerns and they'll go work for one that does.

These are only 5 tips, but there are many more to come in future posts.  Follow the Darkside if you dare.

-M