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O P I N I O N
A lot of people leave their jobs because they hate their bosses. They stay because the C-suite listens to what they have to say. Winning workplaces have (your) ears
T he results of the Best Small and Medium Workplaces 2018 present both a challenge and an opportunity for leaders. After analyzing feedback from more than 158,000 employees, the survey identified five small and five medium size companies as top workplace winners. Comments from employees in the winning companies signal an important theme.
Julie Benezet GUEST SPEAKER
People leave jobs for many reasons: they hate their boss, unequal pay, or boredom because they have stopped learning or the work fails to address their true calling. Whatever the reason, loss of talent is disruptive, expensive, and detrimental to growth. What gets less attention is why people stay. A good start is to correct the issues that send people to the door. Bad managers should be rehabilitated or managed out. Pay levels must be scrutinized to eliminate biases due to gender, longevity at the firm, or politics. Helping employees incorporate their true calling requires managers to spend time learning what gives them passion.
❚ ❚ “No matter where you are in the hierarchy of the company, your opinion is heard, respected, and re- sponded to.” ❚ ❚ “They treat employees like equals...(It) doesn’t mat- ter how busy they are, they always find time for their employees.” ❚ ❚ “Everyone has a voice and is encouraged to exercise that right.” ❚ ❚ “Workers appreciate being in the loop. As one says, ‘The transparency that the company provides is unique.’” In short, employees value working in an organization where their opinions matter. Quality of life at work has always counted. Work requires too large a proportion of one’s waking hours not to care about how they are spent.
See JULIE BENEZET, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER February 4, 2019, ISSUE 1282
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