Scenario: Glen had worked as a superintendent for Pinnacle Builders for the past five years. David, the president, always liked Glen. He thought he was smart, hardworking, and loyal. So when Glen told David that he was giving his two weeks notice, David was stunned and upset.
“Why are you leaving?” he asked. “Didn’t we treat you right?”
“No, you treated me fine.” Glen told him. “But they offered me more money—and indicated I’d be working on more exciting houses. Plus, I’ll have my own assistant, and more opportunity to earn bonuses and profit sharing. It’s a good deal all around.”
“I might have offered you more money if you’d come to me and asked,” David said.
“Really?” Glen replied. “You never said that before.”
“I didn’t realize that you were unhappy.”
“I wasn’t unhappy. I just wanted to do better for myself.”
“So where am I going to find a new superintendent?” David asked.
“I don’t know. But if I hear of someone who’s looking, I’ll let him know.”
How could David have avoided losing his best superintendent, and what should he do about the situation now?
Solution: Losing good people is always disruptive. There are tasks that drop through the cracks, and it always takes a while to find a replacement and get them up to speed. Productivity suffers, not only for the person being replaced, but also for those in the company who have to train the new person on company policies and procedures. That’s why it’s so important to hang on to the good people you have.
The way to retain people is to make sure they feel valued and rewarded. Salaries are important, not only for their monetary value, but for the sense of relative worth they engender in the employee. When employees discover that someone else (whether inside or outside the company) is paid more than they are for the same work, they don’t feel properly appreciated.
