HR must find ways to retain talented employees while increasing employee productivity at the same time, and a company's managers play a powerful role in achieving both of those goals, said David L. Morris of CLC Solutions during the 5th Annual NY HR Week.

Morris began his presentation by noting that the cost of turnover is rising. An employee leaving a company has a significant impact on productivity, not only when the position is open but while the employee's replacement gets up to speed.

He said managers matter a lot to employees and the organization as a whole. A manager plays a central role in many areas that drive employee engagement, such as making a connection between the employee's work and an organization's strategy. Managers also shape employees' perceptions of the company.

That is why it is so important to have good managers and improve the ones who aren't very good. Morris said managers don't need to be perfect, but weak managers can do a lot of harm to a company. His firm's research has found that weaker managers create more than five times as much turnover as strong managers. Even within the same organization, there is a wide variation in the quality of managers.

He said one of the first steps to improving manager effectiveness is raising awareness in areas like their strengths and weaknesses, levels of retention risk among direct reports, and knowledge about employee values and job satisfaction. Employers must also provide some motivation and the opportunity for managers to develop skills to become more effective, he said.

Morris's firm has developed an employee survey and management development tool to both raise awareness and provide motivation. The tool offers managers a personal report card. It also allows executives to see how managers rank in the organization, which is important because it's often hard for executives to see whether managers do a good job of managing employees, Morris said.

In another presentation during the conference, Richard Finnegan of TalentKeepers agreed that managers play a crucial role in employee retention. He said the top reasons that employees leave an employer are related to their supervisor. He said the goal is to make a connection between employees and managers because employees are more likely to stick with a company because of its people, not a program or benefit.

Finnegan offers three strategies for improving employee retention.

• Hold supervisors accountable for retention. Set retention improvement goals at the supervisor level and have consequences for missing them.
• Make supervisors retention experts and develop retention skills among supervisors, including the awareness of how much turnover in specific jobs costs.
• Give employees a supervisor who builds trust.

Finnegan said that having a leader who is a trust builder is very important to employees. Managers who build trust keep overt and covert commitments, always tell the truth, never misrepresent, share credit, admit mistakes and apologize for them, and take responsibility for company policies. He said it is important for employers to develop these skills among managers. He said one way to do so is through role playing.