I met with a man a few weeks back who had seen me speak at a meeting. His name is Gary Bren, and he is the Managing Partner of Turner Technologies, out of Omaha, Nebraska. He wanted me to teach his directors how to run a hiring process, and he was very proud of his non-existent turnover rate. “In our industry, the turnover rate is 25%. The turnover rate at our company is 4%,” Gary said.
In full transparency, I was very skeptical and rolled my eyes inwardly, but I maintained my composure and asked, “What do you attribute to your low turnover rate?”
“It’s the way we value our people. “
Right. Again, with my inward eyeroll, I asked “Can you give me an example?”
“Oh, I can give you many! One time, a man who was 23, with a wife going into labor and a toddler at home, applied for a job with us. We made him an offer, and he accepted. He was going into the hospital with his wife for their child’s birth. He was taking the weekend to get the family settled, then he planned to go back to work Monday to finish out his 2 weeks. When he gave notice, they fired him on the spot.”
This employee called Turner and asked if he could start two weeks early. The IT Director went to Gary and told him the story. Gary said, “Tell the new employee that we will pay for his 2 weeks, but if he comes to the office before the 2 weeks is up, I will fire him. Tell him to take the time with his family, then he can start on his original start date with a full paycheck.”
I started crying, grateful to have been called out on my negative attitude.
Since then, Gary has told me numerous other stories about supporting employees through life transitions. Like Rich, who was given a paid leave of absence so that he could be with his dying mother in her last days. Or Mike, who was given a paid leave of absence to go to China to adopt a baby. Mike is now a part-owner of Turner. (Names have been changed to protect those amazing, lovely employees).
In a business world focused on squeezing out every dollar that they can and wondering why “employees just aren’t loyal anymore,” I say, “look at Gary. Adopt the Turner Way. See how much money you make when employees feel valued, supported and trusted.”
And to Gary: Thanks. I needed that. (Sniff!)
POWER THOUGHT: Want to see a turn around in retention? Turn to The Turner Way.