I’ve just finished working with an organisation that is celebrating improving retention.

They had three senior leaders who were missing strategic goals, repeatedly slipping deadlines and there was high absence and poor retention (this isn’t what they are celebrating… obviously).

The HR Director and CEO had a conversation with me and said they weren’t sure if it was a performance or capability issue.

For many leaders and managers, it can be challenging to distinguish between capability issues and performance-related concerns.

In order to explore further and support the struggles the leaders were having, we booked some executive coaching sessions.

Having an external executive coach means there is an independent person who will provide an objective, structured approach. It can help in determining whether a leader is struggling due to performance issues (such as motivation, mindset, stress) or a capability gap (lack of skills, experience or training).

Through our confidential coaching conversations, these three leaders were able to get clarity on their challenges, uncover blind spots and explore tailored strategies to address them.

With one leader, there was frustration at processes, causing a lack of boundaries, no clear expectations and poor time management.

Another leader had lost all confidence in himself due to the excessive workload, poor teamwork and feeling overwhelmed and this was also showing up with a need to work on improving retention.

The third leader needed help on communication and target setting, so he could develop strategies for himself and the team. This meant they were more included, had clear direction and didn’t miss deadlines.

Although each leader had ‘executive coaching’ sessions, the focus was tailored to their needs to ensure that support and development was targeted, fair and commercially impactful rather than reactive.

After coaching? Those leaders had good reasons to celebrate:

• They changed their approach to leadership.
• The teams felt empowered, included and valued because there was more responsibility, better delegation and clear direction setting.

They saw improving retention by 25% in the three months we worked together and also had people return from sick leave.

This simple way of improving retention meant they avoided the high cost of replacing key employees and saw a direct impact on productivity.

➡ My calendar is open for bookings – book a call to explore how leadership coaching can boost retention and performance.

Book a Call Here ➡

The Cost of Losing Great People

For many organisations I work with, February is the time that businesses start to feel the impact of those January resignations. The teams are stretched and there are gaps in skill sets which creates a growing need to recruit (often without the budget to do so).

But what if you could stop the cycle and see results on improving retention?

Hiring is expensive! I know I don’t need to tell you that.

Estimates suggest replacing an employee costs six to nine months of their salary in lost productivity and recruitment fees. And that doesn’t include the impact on morale, engagement and your remaining teams’ workloads.

improving retention plans these days are needing to focus on more than just perks or pay rises. People want development. Investing in leadership coaching doesn’t just benefit the individual leaders, it drives commercial success too.

By setting boundaries like a pro and getting clear buy-in from team members, those departments implement actions and projects quickly so that operational targets are met on time and delivered well across all levels of your organisation.

➡ Let’s talk now about the specifics of what’s needed to help you with improving retention before hiring costs spiral – book a free call to discuss how leadership coaching can strengthen your talent pipeline.

Top Tip

Companies with strong learning and development cultures experience 30-50% higher retention rates than those without (according to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report).

When you are proactively building leadership skills, you’re also improving retention and creating stronger talent pools for both leaders and teams. It also makes sure you’re reducing knowledge gaps and improving succession planning.

And Finally…

When senior leaders are stretched thin, it creates a domino effect of less delegation, more reactive decision-making and disengaged teams.

Executive coaching helps leaders:

• Prioritise strategically, reducing burnout and increasing productivity.
• Develop and engage their teams, preventing costly turnover.
• Build a stronger talent pipeline, reducing last-minute recruitment needs.

You know, and I know, that great leaders don’t just manage work; they influence culture, strategy, and engagement. All of which works to be improving retention.

Do your senior leaders know how to influence this?

➡ If improving retention of your best people is a priority this quarter, let’s chat.

We can explore how coaching can make a difference across your entire organisation and be happening before the leaders are on their summer holiday!

Talk soon – and let’s give you a reason to celebrate!

Emma Langton has over 13 years experience in supporting leaders to enhance engagement, performance and wellbeing. Her coaching, training and speaking is valued by organisations across the UK for getting results quickly with her straight talking Yorkshire style.

Often referred to by her clients as the boundary queen and the resilience goddess, she shares her passion for progress with practical tips and advice so that her clients improve leadership skills, reduce stress and pressure and elevate wellbeing. She regularly provides insights for BBC, Forbes, Metro and also has a podcast called Lessons for Leaders with 100 episodes.