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Supervisors Play a Major Role in Employee Motivation and Retention

To keep employee motivation and retention high it is crucial that employees have quality supervision. Many good employees have quit jobs in the past simply because their supervisors were not easy to work with. Employee motivation and retention involves more than just hiring a nice guy to supervise your employees. The person that you put over your staff must be someone who understands the key to employee motivation.

To keep employee motivation and retention high supervisors must communicate well. They must be able to clearly lay out expectations without coming across as brash or “bossy.” Supervisors who are successful have the ability to see the big picture. They are not so focused on the company that they forget that the life of the company is the employees. Supervisors that are able to maintain a high level of employee motivation and retention do so by first genuinely communicating with employees.

Getting to know employees, their likes, dislikes and goals can go far in understanding them and making connections. Being on friendly terms is very important if you want to maintain employee motivation and retention. People can generally pick up whether the friendliness is genuine. If they feel that it is not a wall will go up and the employee will become guarded. They will not see your gestures of communication as anything but an attempt to use them in some way.

In addition to being open and friendly, supervisors much affirm and recognize workers if they want to maintain employee motivation and retention. If employee X has worked extra hard to get a project in he or she should be acknowledged for their time and effort. Many supervisors make the mistake of just letting the paychecks do the talking. This does not work. Employees who feel they are genuinely appreciated and that their work is being noticed are more likely to stay at their jobs and excel on future projects. For instance, if employee X has worked late for a month and even spent some of their Saturdays working on a project for the company and this goes unnoticed, resentment may build.

Another way that supervisors are able to keep employee motivation and retention up is by asking questions. Employees should be brought into the loop. Tell them what is going on with the company, ask them their opinions and find out what they think. They are the ones doing the work. They know the nuts and bolts of most companies better than some supervisors! Asking employees their opinions on policies, procedures and even letting them have a vote in things can go far in keeping employee motivation and retention high.

There is no magic involved in keeping good employees. It really just comes down to common sense. Many companies lose good and valuable employees simply because their supervisors do not have any motivation strategies. No supervisor should be expected to push a button and make people motivated. However, they can set up an environment that promotes motivation.

Before you go out and hire your next supervisor you should seriously think about whether they truly can keep employee motivation and retention up. You should call their past employers and ask questions about their ability and methods of supervising. It would be sad to hire one supervisor that no one likes and lose three good employees in the process! Not everyone who claims to have supervisory skills does. Do a little investigation. Ask the hard questions and weed out the people who you feel in your gut would not be a good match for your workers.