Marty was at a loss to explain why he was losing his most talented people. His office was upscale, roomy cubicles, good benefit package, competitive wages and reasonable bonuses. I asked about his managers. Aside from the CFO and the HR person, there were two project managers running thirty technicians in the field.

“So, Marty, tell me, you have managers running the projects, but who is running the technicians?”

“Well, the Project Managers tell the technicians what they need and the technicians do the work.”

“Marty, the Project Managers run the projects, but who is running the technicians?”

Many companies pull out a layer of management without understanding the roles that managers play. Project Managers run projects. We weren’t losing projects, we were losing technicians. The most important element related to employee retention is the relationship between the manager and the team member. This is a difficult relationship to cultivate if you do not have a manager in the equation.

Examine your organization, where are your managers and how have you defined their roles? -TF