"Stage" Fright
Isn’t it exasperating to hire someone you feel will be a good employee, train them to the point that they are productive, make plans to incorporate them into your existing team, reach a point where you think they are ready… and then you hear dreaded words, “I’m resigning to accept a better position.”
Frustration City!
What a bummer!
What can you do?
Each and every one of us advances through for stages in our work:
- Unconscious incompetent - You don’t know that you don’t know.
- Conscious incompetent - You know that you don’t know.
- Conscious competent - You know that you know.
- Unconscious competent - You don’t have to think about what you know.
Many of our best employees may be lost at a point in one of these stages. As managers, we may get our employees to a certain point and then we forget about them, so to speak, and we leave them to sink or swim on their own. If we are aware where people are at their stage of development, we can implement on-going training or our employees. Fallout will be minimal. A successful manager must take an active part in employee training and help each one successfully work their way through each stage of competence.
When you maintain continuing interest and your employees are allowed to grow in their work, they are more likely to remain with you. As each employee works through these stages, they become stronger and more self-assured. They benefit from process and you benefit from the process. If they lose interest because you have lost interest in their training, then everyone loses.
Back to the Receivables Talk Index