How to loose good employees in one easy step

You rely on your employees. They are the lifeblood of your organization, and its most important assets. Finding good employees is time consuming and expensive. Loosing good employees is even more time consuming and expensive. But keeping good employees, as it turns out, is relatively cheap and takes very little time. So why do so many of us loose our best performers so often?

Although there are several areas that can affect employee retention, let's look at reason numero uno... You ready for it?... Its YOU... yes YOU... THE LEADER.

Now if you've read almost any book that's ever been written on leadership, you've already heard some variation of "people don't leave their job, they leave their boss". But what exactly is it about the boss that is most likely to drive them away the quickest? Its failure to hold everyone equally accountable.

Good employees aren't afraid of hard work. They don't mind following reasonable rules and they even don't mind being held to a high standard... that is, as long as their co-workers are being held to the same standard.

Consider this... imagine I gave you a $10 bill for no reason whatsoever, and asked nothing in return. it's a gift just because you're awesome! You'd be happy right? Now imagine I then gave everyone else in the room each a $50 bill for the same reason. Well, if you would feel just a little cheated, it would only make you human. It's a phenomenon called "anchoring" where we base our feelings about certain things on caparisons we make with the people around us. None of us are immune to it's effects, even though we don't often realize it's happening. When leaders hold some of the people they lead to one standard, and expect something different from others, they create a breeding ground for resentment, back-biting, and hostility. This only builds over time, and before you know it, your best and brightest are looking elsewhere for a new job.

Letting poor performance slide because someone is going through a difficult time, or is struggling to master a new task or skill is the right thing to do. It is also something that their co-workers will generally recognize and be ok with. That is, as long as it's temporary. When it becomes the new normal, thats when it becomes a problem. And if it's a problem for too long, the end result will be that your best employees will leave, and the ones that remain will set the new pace.