Personality and Profitability: Employee Retention

Whether we attend leadership conferences or round tables, industry conventions, or breakout sessions at trade shows, we hear someone talking about how to cut turnover and retain key employees. With millions of baby boomers about to retire in the next few years, retention has become a major focus of many organizations.

Understanding the differences in personality can go a long way in learning how to keep people happy and therefore reduce turnover. Research has shown that the #1 reason people leave companies is not about money, it's "supervisor dissatisfaction." Sure, perks, benefits and fair pay are important. But mostly, people get tired of working day after day for a person who is irritable, difficult, short with praise and long on criticism. The fact is that praise does not follow outstanding performance; praise is the motivator for top performance. Skilled, people friendly supervisors, motivate employees toward higher productivity through their positive support. Employees feel valued and appreciated. In turn, these organizations experience higher productivity and lower rates of turnover.

Unfortunately, some managers believe that praising employees will lead to a big head or authority problems. Others are just plain difficult or enjoy "lording it over" others. But these uninformed thought processes are not the primary reason we see supervisor dissatisfaction. The people problems many supervisors experience can result from normal differences in personality.

The fact is, though only 10% of the population would classify as "Leader type" * personalities, we see 90% "Leader types" in supervisor positions. "Leader types" are drawn to supervisory and leadership positions. Leaders are visionaries and thrive on accomplishment and results. They see the big picture and the bottom line, and are relentless in their pursuit of success. Most CEO's, business owners, supervisors and managers have strong "Leader" tendencies.

But "Leaders" have an "Achilles heel." Their "Achilles Heel" interferes with their accomplishing the one thing they want most - to lead people. Their "Achilles Heel" is lack of adequate "soft people skills." People skills are essential to maintain a happy workforce and become the leader that people want to follow. Soft people skills include the ability to praise, support, coach, value people, and develop trusting relationships. Since the largest percentages of people are "people type" personalities, this can become a huge problem. Most people, but especially "people types", require trust, praise, support and positive interaction. "People types" become hurt easily, and hold resentments when offended. They tend to avoid confronting issue. A brusque, unfriendly and critical supervisor can unwittingly sew the seeds of poor morale, resentment, low productivity and can even escalate workplace stress. Stress in the workplace begets its own set of problems which we will discuss at a later date.

Many leaders are just too focused on accomplishment and performance to worry too much about others. And their strong self-confidence tends to get in the way of their ability to gain insight into their personality limitations. Unfortunately, this can cause problem when they are in a leadership position.

Understanding the inborn strengths and limitations of all personalities goes a long way toward achieving maximum success at home and in the workplace. Leaders who lack essential soft people skills and who seek to be more successful, can learn these skills through training and coaching. Once we acknowledge our inborn strengths, identify our Achilles Heels, and understand individual differences, we can begin to achieve maximum success, both personally and professionally.

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Pat Swan, M.S., Personal Life Coach and Relationship Coach
Author of Watch Out! Your Relationships Can Be Hazardous To Your Health
Reduce relationship stress and discover secret remedies for better health.
Visit my web site www.patswan.com and Sign up for my FREE Well-Being Tips
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Copyright 2003 Pat Swan

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