In my previous post I wrote about the importance and value a passionate employee brings to any business. Now, suppose you are a manager or business owner who has found one of these rare passionate employees; what are your chances of keeping them from moving on?
Well, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics your chances of keeping them in place don’t look good. Their recent study revealed the average worker only stays in the same job for about 1.5 years. Many more studies show that this statistic is the result of companies employing and refusing to fire bad managers.
Since the late 90’s I’ve had the privilege of working under several types of managers and I’ve found you can classify their styles into three categories:
Mentors, Monsters, and Missing in Action Managers.
As you may have guessed only one of these manager types is beneficial for the retention of those passionate employees that will contribute to the betterment and growth of a company. But let us first review those managers to avoid in your business.
- Monster Managers (Classic “Bad Managers”)
There are two types of monsters, the aggressive and the passive aggressive; each is equally harmful. The aggressive monster in a micro manager. Constantly delegating without input from the team. Because the aggressive monster knows the team has not “bought in” they check up regularly and will get outwardly grumpy if things don’t seem to being going exactly to their plan.
isockphoto.com/AntonioGuillem
The second type of monster is the passive-aggressive manager. Similar to the aggressive monster in that they too prefer only their will, without team input. The passive aggressive monster on the other hand feigns concern by asking for input, but then quickly shuts it down.
Monster managers exhibit most if not all of the traits listed in Bernard Marr’s LinkedIn article, “Why Great Employees Quit”. Monster managers have “no respect, no vision, no future, no equity, no moral, and no challenge or autonomy”.
- Missing in Action Managers
The missing in action manager is not much better than the monster, they aren’t necessarily bad, but they lack the passion needed for being a good leader. That loss of passion may be the result of the missing manager themselves having to deal with a monster manager at some point in their career. The missing in action manager lives in their office, rarely checking on their work force. As long as things are running smoothly one may go for days without seeing this type of manager.
There are some ups and downs to having a manager like this. If you are a passionate employee you can benefit from the unbridled autonomy this affords you. This is your chance to implement new ideas and really shine as an up and coming leader. Your missing in action manager may even promote you so that you can make him or her look better for the company.
The downside, however, is that your missing in action manager will most likely not even notice, and you may be putting in a lot of hard work and effort in with not much to show for it except your own pride and more skills to add to your resume when you give up and move on to greener pastures.
- The Mentor Manager
These seem to be the rarest breed of manager, if my work experience is any indicator. Mentors are those managers who not only attended all of the management theory classes, but also internalized, digested, and made those theories a part of their daily interaction with team members. The mentor has managed to balance the 3 C’s perfectly: Caring, Competence, and Character. A mentoring manager has all the characteristics needed to unlock the full potential of any passionate employee.
A mentor manager allows his or her employees to retain autonomy while collaborating with staff; and provides the tools and access to new skills necessary, not only for the success of the company, but also the individual employee. A mentoring manager is easily recognizable by their ability to create an environment where the sky is the limit and all good ideas are potentially attainable. In short, they are the removers of obstacles, not creators of obstacles.
istockphoto.com/Jirsak
If you are a business owner and happen to land a mentor on your management team, my advice is do whatever necessary to make them feel at home. Not only do mentors create a more productive work environment, they also reduce turnover; which can save a company thousands per year normally lost to having to constantly hire and train new staff.