Introduction
Turnover is an essential component of an organization’s operational requirements and needs. Employee turnover can result from employee’s retrenchment or a worker discretionarily leaving employment. This can be affected due to supply and demand. To adequately and comprehensively conceptualize turnover, one must consider elements that affect both employee and employer work decisions, such as remuneration, working conditions, budgeting, and the interrelation between performance and job layoff.
Employee turnover is a necessary evil that seeks to manage the workforce, keyword “Manage.” Turnover rates among teachers stands at 16% annually (Grissom et al., 2016). The educational sector is ravaged immensely by high teacher turnover rates, necessitated by poor management and unfavorable working conditions and environment. School Teachers dedicate many working hours to delivering quality education to the youth. Still, they are in dire need of a solid substructure when challenges arise during their deliveries.
Poor management and support systems are among the many reasons for teachers’ high turnover as they seek a better administrative support system. This illustrated how bad leadership derails performance and increases employee turnover. When teachers have supportive leadership, it makes a massive difference in their retention at the school. The same is true for employees in a variety of different organizations. Having supportive leadership creates an environment where employees feel valued and appreciated, leading to increased satisfaction and motivation. This, in turn, results in higher levels of productivity and overall better performance. In short, constructive leadership is essential for any organization that wants to attract and retain the best talent while destructive leadership results to high turnover rate.
Impact of Leadership Styles on Employee Retention
In most organizations, management affects productivity and create or disrupts harmonious co-existence. Great leaders can increase productivity and raise morale, while a plague on an organization can lead to high turnover. Managers need to be aware of their impact on the organization and act accordingly. Sadly, not all leaders are equally effective. Some leaders may be more interested in their pay and benefits than in influencing and motivating their subordinates. This can lead to high turnover rates as employees become demoralized. Other leaders, however, work hard to set a good example and stay involved in the day-to-day operations of their team. This can create a more positive and productive work environment. This leadership style depicts a constructive leader who seeks to inspire subordinates. Team members feel respect and trust towards productive leaders instead of feeling these emotions when led by a destructive leader (Luthans & Peterson, 2010).
Destructive leaders focus on themselves while completely sidelining their employee’s needs. As long as they are in power, nothing else matters to them. These leaders can bring a firm to their knees from within and get involved in acts of physical force, such as shoving, throwing things, or slamming their fists on a desk. They may also engage in sexual harassment that includes inappropriate physical contact. Or, they may commit passive acts, such as failing to protect a subordinate’s welfare or failing to provide a subordinate with important information or feedback.
We all have experienced both constructive and destructive leadership styles, irrespective of the industry we have been part of. Many employees leave an organization because of poor leadership, yet we have also experienced or seen employees stay in bad organizations because of great leaders. Sometimes we endure bad workplaces because we enjoy coming to work and collectively working with leaders who always have our best interests at heart. Leaders play a vital role in determining whether an employee stays or leaves an organization.
Poor leadership is often one of the main reasons employees choose to leave an organization. If an employee feels like their leader is constantly belittling them, micromanaging their every move, or is otherwise unsupportive, they are likely to start looking for a new job. No employee is willing to continue working in a repulsive environment, and they’ll instead exit. Bad leadership is a critical factor in reducing productivity and increasing turnover.
On the other hand, great leaders have the opposite effect and often keep employees from leaving, even if the organization itself is not ideal. Employees stay because they feel valued, appreciated, and supported by their leaders. Great leaders can be the only reason organizations get to keep good employees motivated, increase productivity, create a good reputation, and develop a great corporate image.
Constructive leaders bear a great deal of humility and authenticity to develop employees’ competencies. Constructive leaders must show empathy towards their subordinates, which creates an environment of trustworthiness and openness. Constructive leadership style promotes trust and a positive attitude while focusing on results and achieving organizational goals (Bakar & McCann, 2015). These leaders seek to change the behaviors of employees to achieve the highest possible outcome. At the same time, Destructive leadership focuses on oneself and satisfying one desire while disregarding the organizational goals and objectives.
Constructive Leaders create a sense of identity among employees and the firm’s vision to create a desired future employee. They make the desired vision and tackle issues by developing plans with clear, precise, and smart attainable objectives. They clearly understand the organizational core values and convince their subordinates to reach their potential. This gives employees a sense of purpose and direction hence encouraging retention. On the other hand, destructive leaders have no clarity on the organizational goal. They do not seek to elevate employees’ competence levels due to fear of being outperformed by the same employees.
A positive attribute of constructive leaders is to show emotional intelligence and responsiveness toward employees (Deinert et al., 2015). Employees need leaders with whom they can be emotionally in sync as it encourages a better employee-employer relationship. Recruitment, management, and retention of employees is a vital human capital strategy for ensuring the growth and sustainability of the business. Destructive leaders lack emotional intelligence and responsiveness and rarely connect with employees emotionally.
Conclusion
We have now explored the different leadership styles and can conclude that not all leaders are created equal. Leaders display various kinds of behavior depending on their personality, values, and situation. The most effective leaders can adapt their style to the specific needs of their team or organization. Some take a more proactive approach and work directly with employees to improve working conditions. Leaders play an essential role in setting and managing employee expectations. By doing so, they can help ensure that employees are not overworked and that they can meet the demands of their jobs. Influential leaders can develop the capacity of poorly performing employees to match the job demand and perform as well as the rest of the team without which their jobs are in line. A great leader takes the time to teach, mold, and mentor employees who may need some extra attention.
Employees have an obligation to seek assistance from the Human Resources office if they feel like a lousy leader is leading them. Some employees might not speak up because they are afraid of reprisal, but it is our ethical duty to develop leaders and provide them with the leadership skills to grow.
It is widely accepted that there is a strong relationship between leadership and employee turnover. This is because employees unhappy with their leaders are more likely to leave their jobs, while those who are satisfied with their leaders are more likely to stay. There are some reasons why this may be the case. First, employees unhappy with their leaders may feel that they are not being treated fairly or allowed to do their best work. This can lead to dissatisfaction and a desire to leave the organization. Second, employees who are satisfied with their leaders may feel that they are being allowed to grow and develop within the organization. This can lead to loyalty and a desire to stay with the organization. In sum, there is a strong relationship between leadership and employee turnover.
Reference
Bakar, H. A., & McCann, R. M. (2015). A longitudinal examination of the effects of self perceived leader–member dyadic communication differentiation and perceived group member performance: Does ethnicity make a difference?. International journal of intercultural relations, 47, 56-68.
Deinert, A., Homan, A. C., Boer, D., Voelpel, S. C., & Gutermann, D. (2015). Transformational leadership sub-dimensions and their link to leaders’ personality and performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(6), 1095-1120.
Grissom, J. A., Viano, S. L., & Selin, J. L. (2016). Understanding employee turnover in the public sector: Insights from research on teacher mobility. Public Administration Review, 76(2), 241-251
Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., & Peterson, S. J. (2010). The development and resulting performance impact of positive psychological capital. Human resource development quarterly, 21(1), 41-67.
write