Can Leadership Consulting Help With Turnover?
Yes.
Most business owners look at high turnover and blame the economy, generational gaps, mercury retrograde, or unrealistic salary demands. But according to Gallup, 42% of employee turnover is entirely preventable.
When The President's Coach is hired to address turnover, we do it differently than others. No recruitment strategy overhaul or HR handbook rewrite. As a specialized Private Equity Leadership Consultant, we use a direct approach that keeps butts in seats.
The Employer Side: A "Triple A Rating"
We use what we call a "Triple A Rating" to diagnose turnover.
If you have a high "Triple A Rating", it means that employee Autonomy and Appreciation are high, and that the paths for Advancement are clear. But if a workplace is missing, or scores low on any of these fundamentals, over time, talent will naturally seek a new path.
Autonomy
Autonomy happens when an employee's ideas are openly, sincerely, and routinely explored with a decision maker, and are given complete ownership over the execution of their tasks.
Appreciation
Appreciation happens when "thank you" is part of the company culture, when advanced insights are routinely acknowledged, and when raises are either personal (For example, the exact increase amount your CMO needs to not have to send their child to daycare) or enough to add actual breathing room to your compliance directors pay check.
Advancement
When there is no clear path for advancement within an organization, a ticking clock starts, and after a certain period of time, a stagnant employee will naturally seek a path outside of their current company. As humans, we are hardwired to seek growth. And when we cannot find it, we disengage.
The Employee Side: "Miscalculations"
Turnover is never a one-way street. On the employee side, it's driven by two Miscalculations.
One, Misalignment. Two, Misappropriation.
Misalignment
Occurs when an employee and an employer want different things. For example, the employee wants to spend more time with their family then the job allows, like we just saw with Karolyn Leavitt, the former White House Press Secretary, or Jacob Coxan, the researcher who left Anthropic (he wants regulation. Anthropic wants growth). Most assume these differences are grounds for separation. But with some open dialogue and flexibility on both sides, resolutions can absolutely be met, and turnover can be avoided.
Misappropriation
Happens when an employee makes the function of the job entirely responsible for their overall well-being. It is not the job's responsibility to entertain you or ensure your emotional wellbeing. When workers stop projecting this outward expectation onto the role, and look at where the actual conflict lies (within themselves) most often, the job starts to improve, and the employee stays where they are.
So How Does Leadership Consulting Help With Turnover?
By pulling the Internal Leadership Levers of both the employees and the employers. This raises the company to a "Triple A Rating" (by increasing autonomy, appreciation, and clarity around advancement) and corrects employees misalignment and misappropriation.
Here's an example:
Saving A Deal
The deal was less than 24 hours away from close, and the CEO of the company being acquired had gone cold, fully resolved to let it die.
But to a senior leader on their team, this deal meant everything. Their personal future, their financial health, and the future of their family.
There was extreme Misalignment between The CEO and this Sr. Leader.
For years, every single idea this senior leader had brought to the CEO had been shot down (low Autonomy). Instead of allowing this situation to suffer the same fate, we pulled the Sr. Leader's Self-Advocacy lever.
This revealed that the senior leader was unconsciouly using the dominant CEO as a form of risk mitigation. As long as the CEO was there to shoot their ideas down, the senior leader could have wonderful thoughts without ever having to act on them.
They realized, that if they wanted others (CEO included) to champion their ideas, they would have to champion them first.
Four hours before the deal was set to expire, this Sr. Leader stepped out of disengagement and instead started to review the contract.
As a result, they found a new perspective on the deal that no one in the boardroom had seen before.
Two hours later, they presented it to the board, completely changing the temperature of the room.
One hour later the CEO did a complete 180, went all in, and the deal was saved.
So How Much Does It All Cost?
It's easier to start with the cost of doing nothing. Remember, Humans are hard-wired to seek growth. So when Autonomy, Appreciation and a clear path to Advancement are low, and Misalignment and Misappropriation are high... it's going to get expensive.
It costs between 200% and 400% of a Senior Leader's annual salary to replace them. The recruiting fee is 30% of that executives total yearly cash (salary + bonus). And the timeline to replace them is an average of 242 days, while the company operates at 70% capacity for that duration. For a mid-sized company, that's a million-dollar devastation.
But the cost that gets overlooked the most is the one of the absolute untapped genius already sitting in the room. All it takes is one single focused conversation to unlock it.
Like this one employee we worked with. We'll call her Candace. Candace was fully prepared to leave the company that hired The President's Coach, the day we began work. Three weeks later, Candace's colleagues started referring to her as "born again." Ten years later, Candace's book of business accounts for over 50% of that company's entire bottom line.
There is immense, hidden talent sitting in your rooms right now. Unlocking it does not require a massive corporate restructure, or a million dollars. it just starts with one real conversation.
The "They" to "I" Audit
If you're a frustrated executive watching people leave, or a stuck employee considering walking out the door, before you do anything, start with this simple exercise.
Take a piece of paper and write down your primary workplace complaint. For example, "they don't appreciate what I do."
Then, cross out "They" and write "I" in its place.
"I don't appreciate what I do."
What you see outside of yourself is a direct reflection of what is going on within. When you start to see yourself differently, so too will those around you.
If you want to increase your "Triple A Rating" or decrease Misalignment and Misappropriation within your team, click the button below to schedule a meeting to learn how The President's Coach can reduce your company's turnover.
