“Team members have three questions,” Pablo continued, “and they all have a bearing on retention.”

• What is expected of me?
• How am I doing?
• Who do I go to for help?

“The third question is the key,” I replied, “and, we can use that key to help us with the first two questions. It is a question of WHO?”

• Who helps me set expectations in my role, to which I agree?
• Who helps me understand how I am doing?
• Who do I go to for help?

Pablo nodded. “How does the saying go? People join companies. People quit managers. People will work (for a while) with substandard pay, substandard benefits, as long as they have a great relationship with their manager. But, even with competitive pay and superior benefits, people will quit if they have a lousy manager.”

“So, it’s not just the role, its the working relationship with their manager,” I said.

“And, working relationships is how we define organizational structure,” Pablo stepped on my line. “Organizational structure is the way we define the working relationships (accountability and authority) between people. Organizational structure is the context in which people work. It is the context in which people engage in work or engage in non-work. Change the context, behavior follows.”**
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**Famous quotation from Gustavo Grodnitzky, Culture Trumps Everything