77% of all turnover is avoidable. At least that is according to one piece of research I recently saw. Turnover is a problem (I know, I don’t have to tell you that). The larger problem it that many of us don’t really understand the real cost of losing a superstar. The problem is not that we come up short on today’s work. The problem is that we come up short on tomorrow’s work. We have team members who focus on today’s work. The majority of the leader’s job should be focusing on tomorrow’s work. The new project, the new initiative, the new contract, the new partnership. Tomorrow’s work is the work that will eventually become today’s work. When our eyes get taken off the horizon because we need to focus on rebuilding our team, then not as much of our attention can be on tomorrow. The repercussions might not play out for a few months, but there is always a price to pay. The point is this: By investing in our teams in such a way that great people stick around, we free up time to do the work that we should be doing. The work that will ultimately move the whole team or organization forward. If you focus some of your attention on developing and keeping your people on your team, the long returns will outweigh the short cost.
With your teams, don’t get out of the way, do this instead
"Get out of the way!" I often hear some version of this sentiment when talking about building a culture to incentivize high performance teams. "You have to find the right people, equip them, and then get out of the way." People who talk about getting out of the way...