You Don’t Own Your Employees’ Careers

Three tips for making the most of your time together

In 2014, when our chief people officer told me he was leaving to take a similar position with another company, I was sad and disappointed. But there were some emotions I didn’t feel, such as anger, bitterness, and betrayal. He had previously confided in me that he had received an incredibly attractive offer and asked whether I thought he should take it. When he explained the offer, I gave him the same advice I’d give any close friend. I told him I couldn’t see how he could turn down this new job, given what it would mean for his family and career. Much as I hated to lose him, I would understand and support his decision.
 

           
Some might wonder at my reaction. How could I greet the loss of a key member of our leadership team in such a calm manner? But it’s not just me that does this: It’s many of us at Kronos. This is how we treat employees, including our top performers. We work hard and are successful at keeping our best performers. We invest in their careers, training them and giving them opportunities to innovate and advance. But we don’t attach expectations to these investments. If at some point employees find that they must leave Kronos because of life circumstances or to pursue their careers, we respect that and wish them the best. If they one day wish to come back to our company, we do our very best to find a spot for them – no hard feelings.
           
You see, we don’t own our employees’ careers. We have thousands of employees, but each employee only has one career and one life to live. So, how can we begrudge employees for doing what they feel is best for themselves? From a business standpoint, we have little to gain by keeping people at Kronos who in their innermost hearts feel their interests would be best served elsewhere. We want all of our employees to absolutely love where they work, and to feel deeply engaged in their jobs, so they’ll serve our customers to the best of their ability. Employees who secretly want to leave but fear their bosses’ angry response will only become unhappy, and their negativity will spread to their fellow team members, hurting morale.
           
Many companies and leaders harbor resentments toward employees who leave, regarding them as “traitors”. The sooner leaders accept that they don’t own employees’ careers, the better they (and their employees) will be. Our company has benefitted tremendously by creating a legion of super-loyal, super-engaged boomerangs who return to our company. We employ hundreds of boomerangs, and we count them among our most dedicated and enthusiastic team members. Boomerangs bring other advantages, too. We know these employees will fit our culture because we’ve seen them do it before. And contrary to many people’s assumptions, boomerangs are less likely to leave than other employees. They’ve seen the world outside our company. They know what’s out there, and they’ve decided to come back because they appreciate what our company and our culture has to offer. Finally, the presence of boomerangs sends a message to other employees that we care about our team members as people and want them to be happy. Do you think that enhances engagement levels? It sure does!
           
The era when employees worked for one company for their entire career is long-gone. Rather than cling desperately to high performers and feel resentful when they leave, companies would do far better to create environments that allow employees to produce their best work while they are with you. Here are three strategies that have paid big dividends for us:
 
Give employees great managers: Many companies take steps to build employee engagement, but they don’t do enough to make sure every employee reports to a supportive, helpful, and inspiring manager. Believing that all employees deserve great managers, we put all of our managers through a carefully designed training program, offer them ongoing coaching, incent them to treat others well, and track their performance quantitatively. 
 
Cultivate trust: It’s hard to feel inspired to do your very best if you don’t trust colleagues and if they don’t trust you. We define trust as one of our core competencies, teach managers to cultivate trust, and build trust into our policies. As the CEO, I also make a point of giving my own team members unusual latitude, setting an example for others in the organization.
 
Support the whole person: To ensure that employees are engaged and performing at their best, companies have to fulfill as many of their needs as possible. We encourage employees to put their own families first, most notably through our open time-off policy. We also take unusual steps to care for employees in times of crisis and offer unusually expansive opportunities to stay well and to have fun on the job.
 
If you focus on empowering employees to do their best you’ll generate considerable goodwill. More employees will stay, and those who leave will become advocates for you, talking up your company and funneling talent your way. Who knows—maybe they’ll even come back to work for you someday. Our chief people officer did, very soon after he left. Guess what? We welcomed him back with open arms.

As a multiyear recipient of Glassdoor’s Top CEOs honor, Kronos CEO Aron Ain fiercely contends that there is a direct link between employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and business success. His new book, WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work, outlines proven strategies to bring this belief to life at all levels within an organization. Visit www.kronos.in Connect Aron Ain Follow @AronAin