I’ve had the opportunity to do a couple of speaking engagements about the difference between a manager and a leader. It’s a great presentation, so let me know if you want to bring it to your organization… 😉 Ok, but seriously… do you know what the difference is? In its simplest form, it is the difference between one who delegates, keeps the status quo, and “shouts from behind” vs the one who inspires, looks to make improvements, and helps to motivate their team by leading through example. I think an important note is that in some environments, we must have a manager. Its nessessary. But we also need leaders.

So why is having a leader and not just a manager in your organization so important? I’m glad you asked, I will tell you.

At the end of the day, the more motivated, inspired, and committed your employees are, the better it helps your bottom line. When you have employees who are happy, what is the outcome going to be? They’re going to stick around and they’re going to treat your customers better. And when you have happier customers, they keep coming back… and guess what, that is more revenue in the door for your business.

This is just one piece of the puzzle, but let’s talk about turnover really quick. In general, most positions in a company will cost you 2X that position’s salary every time that position turns over. We undervalue the knowledge, experience, and morale contributions every time we turn over a position. So to break this down, hypothetically, if you have a team of 15 people averaging a salary of $50k/yr, and you have a 26% turnover rate (national average), you could be looking at up to $400,000 lost annually in turnover cost. My guess is that in most businesses, that’s a painful number to hear.

One of the most common things I hear is that managers do not feel like they have the time to work on their personal development or even the development of their employees. The bottom line is that we must make investments in our people in order to help drive further success in our business. And here’s the thing, we do not have to make this a daunting task. We can make small changes over time in order to get to the end result. Don’t try to eat the entire cookie… just take one small bite at a time!

So, what steps are you taking to reduce your turnover? How are you ensuring the success and satisfaction of your employees in the workplace? And how are you helping not only to improve your leadership skills, but how are you helping to enhance the great managers and leaders you have?

Contact: LydiaHolmes@ElevatedConsultingPartners.com