Harvard Business Review’s Post

💯 I believe in moving people on at the right time so that they can continue to be challenged and achieve bigger things. Our role as leaders is to grow people, not hinder them.

Instead of focusing on how to lose them, let's explore ways to demotivate them and stifle their growth: Never offer opportunities for advancement, skill development. Keep them siloed in their current role, with no chance to learn new things. Don't trust them to make decisions. Constantly second-guess their work and hover over them, taking away any sense of autonomy. Provide zero feedback, positive or negative. Leave them guessing about their performance and how they can improve. When they suggest improvements, new ideas, shut them down without explanation. Make them feel like their voice doesn't matter. Promote others based on personal connections, not merit. Show your best employee they have no chance of moving up, regardless of performance. Never acknowledge their hard work, accomplishments. Let their efforts go unnoticed, unappreciated. Assign them an impossible workload with unrealistic deadlines. Ensure they have no work-life balance and are constantly stressed. Offer minimal raises, not keeping pace with inflation or their increasing value. Make them feel undervalued financially. When they express concerns about workload or stress, dismiss them with forced cheer and unrealistic expectations of a "positive attitude."

Sometimes it is not possible to offer talented people a vertical career plan because there are no vacancies and no changes are anticipated in the short term. In these situations, we cannot keep stagnant talent and we must work on offering horizontal career experiences. In this way, we can build T shape profiles that can benefit from new experiences in other departments, providing beside their vision based on their background. This innovative vision must be enhanced with the necessary support due to possibilities of improvements useful for the company. With this support, talented people feel that they are contributing to their careers and the organization.

The blog post highlights a critical dilemma in talent management: balancing the comfort of proficiency with the necessity of growth. Stagnation indeed risks losing top talent. However, the solution isn't just about new tasks; it's about fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. Effective leaders recognize that challenging assignments and diverse roles stimulate innovation and loyalty. The challenge lies in sustaining this engagement amidst operational demands. How can managers create sustainable learning ecosystems while meeting immediate business goals? It's a dynamic balance requiring foresight and strategic alignment. #TalentRetention #ContinuousLearning #AdditionalInsights

It's important to understand there's a fine line between burnout and apathy and top performers don't just "get bored" or stop caring. Most of the time the real problem is simply an imbalance in workload or a lack of vision and motivation, both of which can be easily rectified with the right conversations and coaching.

Agree 100%. There is a cycle that comes with each new role. The initial discomfort and lower output to a state where you are delivering stellar output and having the best possible time and then the phase where you are doing everything right but the joy is gone. Often leaders want to hold on to employees in this state because it's difficult to train someone new or just because how well the person is doing the work. True leadership is in knowing when your team member has peaked in the role and actively supporting them to take on newer challenges. At AB InBev GCC India employees are encouraged to take on new career opportunities and rewarded for this as well. Making it truly a great place to work.

Agree 100% with these sentiments. Some people are happy being in role long term but you need to check in with your team where they want to be, what their aspirations are. If you ignore those who want to move into different roles, help them to make it happen. Ignore at your peril.Be remembered as the facilitator, not the blocker.

It is impossible to "lose" employees, because you never own them to begin with. Employees are free people who decide to sell a part of their time to an institution. Remove from your language possessive pronouns when referring to other human beings. If at some point an employee decides to advance to a new chapter of their life, help them make the transition, do not put obstacles in their way.

So true, yet so few leaders and managers understand this.