Love the One You’re With: Building Healthy, Long Lasting Partnerships At Work
Devin Lemoine, Owner & President, Success Labs
If you want to maintain any healthy relationship, there are a few recommended best practices: let your loved ones know that you see them and appreciate them, communicate openly with them, and show that you are invested in the future of the relationship.
This is the usual advice for building healthy relationships with your family and friends, but what about your valued employees? The truth is, if you want to maintain and retain your important working relationships, many of the same principles apply. In order to build a healthy organization with satisfied, high-functioning employees, you need to let your people know that they’re important to you through your actions as a leader.
LOVING THE ONE YOU’RE WITH
Today’s dynamic labor market, characterized by hiring difficulties and frequent job changes, illustrates that all too often the people who CAN leave, will leave. It’s especially easy to woo away top performers who don’t feel valued where they are, and see greener pastures elsewhere. What does this mean for your organization? If you aren’t consciously working to retain and develop your best people, they are the ones who are likely to move on — leaving you without your top people in a competitive business environment.
Nip this bad relationship cycle in the bud by intentionally working to develop and cultivate your employees. Here are my three tips for woo-ing your top people so they are less likely to be lured away by other organizations:
“PUT A RING ON IT”
Make your top performers feel secure in their roles by showing trust in their work. Reward them with access to executive strategy sessions, or other meetings where company leaders are gathering to make decisions. Give them opportunities to be mentored and developed by senior leaders. Put them to work on high-value, high-visibility projects that will allow them to grow their skills and network. These actions show trust and investment in their future with the organization — and gives them opportunities to be seen and acknowledged for the impact they are making in their role.
AFFIRMATION: MAKE INVESTMENTS IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT
Make a plan to invest in the career growth of your top people, in collaboration with them. Through skill building, leadership workshops, presentation opportunities, or training sessions, work with them in pursuing their goals and aspirations — ideally through an upward trajectory with the organization.
LOVE LANGUAGE: PRIORITIZE REGULAR COMMUNICATION
Relationships benefit from frequent check-ins and healthy communication, on both sides. Stay in regular communication regarding work load, project status, team and organizational needs, and employee needs. Don’t let day-to-day demands prevent you from touching base and staying aware of how your people are doing. Lack of communication can lead to frustration, resentment, and burn-out — and can accelerate the departure of your top people.
People who feel appreciated are happier and more successful in their roles – and if you provide opportunities to develop and recognize the important skills that they bring, they are more likely to plan to stay with the organization. But even if life takes people in different directions, creating a culture of investing in your employees will benefit your organization in the long run! Top performers in your field want to work for companies that are openly people-centered, and show by their actions that they value their employees. Building strong relationships with your people helps to ensure that you will always have a strong bench of talent, even as some employees inevitably move into different roles, new fields, or other organizations.
Like any successful relationship, a solid employer/employee dynamic takes commitment, communication, and expecting the best from each other. Show your people how important they are to their team, to the organization, and to you. Relationships that feel like they’re going nowhere are no good for anyone involved. Let your employees know that you see a future for them and with them… and your investment in their future will be rewarded.
Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to grow leaders, build teams and drive results through great people strategy. Contact us to get proactive about expanding your company’s potential, and stay up-to-date with our latest news and leadership development updates here.
