Bring your star employee along to meetings with other departments. Let them be one of the faces of your lab to the rest of your institution. This will create a sense of ownership and show how highly you value your employee's presence and contributions.
"Whenever you hear a patient story, share it with your staff," advises Jeff Myers. Make sure your employees see the connection between the lab specimen they worked on and the real person who was impacted. People will stay at a job where they feel like their work makes a difference.
Jeff Smith advises lab leaders to meet with employees once a quarter to discuss their careers. "Sit down with them and ask, ‘How is the job going for you? What’s the career like? What can I do to improve your experience?’ Treat each employee as a human being—not just one more person on your staff."
If a staff member excels at something, task them with training others. Challenge them to use their skills to make your lab better. Unlock their creativity — ask them to create training materials, manuals, or videos. They'll feel appreciated, engaged, and invested in the success of the lab.
Best management practices say that a leader should have a ratio of five compliments to every one criticism. So as simple as it sounds, tell your star employees what they are doing well. Simple compliments can go a long way toward retention.
Wally Hopp has found success through an innovative technique. "I empower my staff to create positions for themselves. I’ve got some movers and shakers who tackle me in the hallway wanting to do more. I just let them tell me how to help them create opportunities for themselves."
Underperformers affect everyone's morale. When managers spend all their time and energy dealing with them, high-performers get ignored. Eventually high-performers begin to ask themselves, “Why bother doing a great job?" and they quickly start to question the judgment of their leadership.
Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs & Quality; Director, MLabs
University of Michigan Health System
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research; Herrick Professor of Business, Ross School of Business
University of Michigan
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