Retaining employees is one of the most crucial factors in running a successful business. Not only is employee turnover expensive, it can stifle growth, and decrease morale and togetherness in the workplace. Fortunately, there are a few key strategies that can help any organization keep people around, and see continued success.

Here’s an alarming statistic: Every mediocre manager (ones who don’t use good fundamental management skills) loses your organization an average of $33 per day. We all know that having strong managers is important. But by tying proper management techniques to a direct cost, the criticality of these skills become much more tangible.

Setting professional development goals is an essential skill leaders use to align their team to the organization’s strategic objectives. Good goal planning helps keep day-to-day operations running smoothly and efficiently. Planning also motivates team members, helping them see how their efforts make a real difference for the larger good of the organization.

During the late 1960s, University of Toronto psychologist Gary Latham and University of Maryland psychologist Edwin Locke — considered the godfathers of goal-setting theory — discovered what we now hold as truth: the establishment of a goal is one of the easiest ways to increase motivation and enhance performance.

One of the biggest factors to company success and survival is the company’s ability to retain key employees. Without team-members who stick around for the long haul, many organizations struggle to stay afloat because of associated costs of turnover, as well as sparse opportunities to promote people internally. How can you reduce employee turnover? Below are three strategies for HR professionals and business leaders to improve employee turnover and retain key employees:

Think back to being a young child, and learning to ride a bike for the first time. From the second you hopped on the seat, were you good at it? Or did you swerve or maybe even fall before you could successfully ride down the street? Is the old saying “practice makes perfect” really true?

Recent research has shown that practice plays a huge role in developing skills. But not all practice is created equal. A special type of skill building called “Deep Practice” has been proven to develop talent far more effectively than other methods. Deep Practice consists of stretching yourself just outside your comfort zone, stopping and reflecting when errors occur, making adjustments, and continuing this process over time. 

Deep Practice can apply to a wide variety of skills – from hitting a baseball, to playing guitar, to delegating a task to an employee. We’ll first explore how Deep Practice works and the principles behind this technique. Then we’ll discuss how this applies to developing fundamental skills as a manager in the workplace.

When companies are looking to improve, many focus on training employees to become better leaders. What is often ignored, however, is also training employees to become better managers, which is just as critical to the success of an organization. Although some management and leadership skills are closely related, there are many distinct differences between the two. Let’s explore the distinction between leadership and management, why both are important, and how many development initiatives fall short by failing to address both of these skill sets.

The Central Connecticut State Office of Continuing Education recently published an “Expert Interview” with Todd Macey, the President of Vital Learning. The “Expert Interview” series gathers insights and opinions from various leaders in the education and training industries.

In the interview, Todd shares his thoughts on getting managers fully committed to their own self-improvement, teaching “soft skills” in virtual environments, and developing the skills leaders will need to be successful in the future.  

Want to get a peek at where leadership development is headed and learn more about why many manager training programs are ineffective? Check out Todd’s expert interview here.

Why is investing in management training important for an organization? There’s more to it than a simple answer of professional development, talent management or knowledge acquisition. Having effective leaders and managers is one of the most critical components to long-term organizational success. Good or bad managers can affect employee retention, engagement, quality of service and, ultimately, revenue.

Most people agree that developing employees is important, but proving the value of these initiatives to executives can be challenging. One of the most common objections to leadership development is “aren’t all of these skills just inherent and intuitive?” Or “can’t people just learn these skills on the job?” While many effective management skills are intuitive and simple, the execution of these skills can be quite difficult. And learning leadership skills without structure and guidance is often a recipe for bad habits. Management training takes time, resources and money, so why should your boss invest in it? Stated another way, what are the benefits of developing practical skills among your company’s managers?

A good manager manages. A great manager leads. Bridging the gap between a good manager and a great manager begins with identifying what needs to change.

Leadership training is essential to any organization who aims to give their managers the tools they need to deal with difficult, and sometimes uncomfortable workplace situations. Since the quality of managers account for up to 70% in variance of employee engagement, it is crucial to make sure yours are of the highest quality. If managers at your organization exhibit any of the following traits, you should consider developing their skills so they are better equipped to execute. Below are 5 common issues and signs that your managers need leadership training.

True leaders inspire change within their industries. They keep morale lifted and rally team members to do great things. Some people are born with greater natural leadership capabilities, but leadership and management skills are learned and developed over time – they are not purely innate. To become an excellent leader yourself, it helps to know the qualities these people share. By familiarizing yourself with common leadership qualities, you can identify where your strengths and weaknesses may lie.

The following leadership qualities are beneficial for any leader, but they are especially helpful for leaders within the healthcare industry.