One of our daughter’s first jobs was in retail, which she left after only three months of service. I would be willing to bet that the top level managers had no clue as to why she left.

First:  She was told she had to drive to the mall to get her schedule each week (on her day off) because they do not give scheduling information over the telephone.  Second: The week she gave her notice she was scheduled 8 days straight for only 3 hours a day.  During her interview they had talked about a minimum of 5 hours a day. She was a college student and a mom and she had already explained the difficulty this type of schedule caused her and her husband because of the babysitting factor.

When she gave her notice she said she found a job closer to home, which was true.  Nobody asked why she went looking for another job.  Do your frontline supervisors know the cost of hiring and training a new employee in your organization?  Do they understand their role in protecting those investments?

1. Hire for personality fit and train for skill, when possible.
2. Encourage and reward ideas that support your company vision, mission, goals and objectives.
3. Allow team members at every level of the organization the autonomy to improve processes that support your company vision, mission, goals and objectives.  This includes on-the-spot service recovery when necessary.
4. Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!  Don’t forget to celebrate the small successes and all creative attempts. Do this and people will love their work.