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As we all know, bad supervisors are one of the main reasons for employee turnover. Whether they are a newly minted front line supervisor or the grey haired Executive VP it does not matter. There are an infinite number of reasons why this happens. I break it down by two areas which are generally mutually exclusive. You have the bad supervisor created by their personality and insecurities.

Spoiler alert: The vast majority of you will relate to this topic

I know of a company which is now owned by the third generation. In both their marketing for customers and in recruiting they sell themselves as a third generation family business. Tucked into a corner of the Presidents’ office is a cherished family picture. It is of two brothers, probably in their late twenties or early thirties. Behind them is a truck. The picture memorializes the very beginning of the company.

Freebies are very expensive, time consuming and hard to stop once started. Even worse, freebies don’t work. Freebies can take the form of food trucks, rich benefits, emotional events or activities. The participation level and the impact taper off quickly. Your employees will soon be looking for a new fix with new freebie. I have never seen any of those type of activities work in the long term.

Recently I was involved in a conversation with an executive about what I did. We spoke about the backbone of his company. The people who made him money and helped grow his company. We covered the importance of not having turnover in this area and making these people as productive as possible. After we talked for a while he said, “Oh so you are a strength coach for my backbone!!” I had never thought about it that way; but, he was correct.