Episode 39: Beyond Pay: 5 Ways Leaders Retain Great People | 12MinuteLeadership

Are you tired of watching great people walk out the door while competitors dangle bigger paychecks? 

In this week’s episode of 12-Minute Leadership, I unpack five high-impact leadership practices that transform the day-to-day experience at work — and turn “we can’t keep good people” into “we don’t want to leave.”

Here’s what we cover:

•  Cast a clear and compelling vision so people see where you’re going, why it matters, and how their role directly drives results. 

Build real belonging

•  through small relational rituals that make culture your competitive advantage. 

Fuel growth

•  with quarterly career conversations, skill maps, and meaningful stretch assignments. 

Tailor appreciation

•  so recognition actually lands — based on what each person values most. 

Hold low performers accountable

•  because tolerated underperformance quietly pushes your top talent out.

Retention isn’t just about compensation. It’s about clarity, connection, growth, recognition, and accountability — consistently practiced. 

Like what you heard on today's episode and want to go deeper? Subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode.

You can also pick up my book, Lead Anyone, on Amazon. Then, go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals.

From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results.
Go to www.eliseboggs.com for more info.

Transcript

Welcome And Purpose

Speaker 0:02

Welcome to the 12-Minute Leadership Podcast, where in 12 minutes or less, I'll share small things that you can put into immediate practice that will make a big difference in your leadership effectiveness. I'm your host, Elise Boggs Morales, leadership professor, consultant, and coach. For the last 17 years, I have helped thousands of leaders level up their influence and achieve remarkable results. If you want to trade compliance for true commitment and create your dream team, you are in the right place. Get ready for a quick hit of practical wisdom to increase your team's engagement, inspire top performance, and retain your best talent. Ready to level up your influence and get better results? 12 minutes starts now. Hi everyone, Elise here. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we're talking about something that almost every leader cares deeply about, and that is retaining your best talent. I hear leaders say all the time, we just can't keep good people. People are leaving for more money. There's so much turnover, or a very common one, this generation just doesn't want to work. And compensation absolutely matters. It needs to be fair and competitive, but over and over in my leadership experience leading highly engaged, unpaid volunteers, and now leading within my business and client organizations, I've seen something important. People often stay for reasons that go beyond pay. So today I want to share five leadership practices that consistently retain your best talent. Tip number one is having a vision. People stay when they know where they're going and why. So as leaders, we have to have a vision, be able to communicate it, and connect each person's role to it. Vision answers three critical questions for people. Where are we going? Why does it matter? And how does my work contribute? When everyday tasks connect to meaning, engagement rises dramatically. There's strong research behind this as well. Studies on purpose-driven work show that employees who see meaning in their work report higher commitment and lower turnover. And I actually experienced this within my own team about a week ago when I was doing my assistant's annual review. My wonderful assistant has been with me for about a year, and I asked her the question, What do you enjoy most about your job? And without hesitation, she said, knowing that I play a small part in a leader's transformation. And I absolutely loved her answer because it showed a connection between the everyday administrative work she does and the connection to the larger vision of helping leaders transform. When people understand how they matter, they stay. Tip number two, creating a strong culture of relationships. Maslow identified belonging as a core human need, and work is one of the primary places people seek belonging. People stay where they feel known, valued, and connected. Research consistently supports this. For example, Gallup has found that having a close friend at work strongly correlates with retention, engagement, and productivity. And I've seen this firsthand with a client in a highly technical industry. Leaders invest in relationships, teams gather regularly, workspaces are designed for connection, and shared experiences are prioritized. Even when competitors have offered higher salaries, people stayed because leaving meant leaving relationships and belonging. Culture became their competitive advantage. People don't just stay for jobs, they stay for people. Tip number three: opportunities for development and growth. Your best people want to grow. They want to know that their future matters, someone sees their potential, and development is supported. Retention rises when leaders discuss career goals, give feedback, create development plans, and provide stretch opportunities. Research from LinkedIn Learning shows that lack of growth opportunities is one of the top reasons people leave organizations. When leaders actively support growth, people don't need to look elsewhere. People rarely leave environments where they are being given the opportunity to develop in advance. Tip number four, appreciation. Every person wants to feel their contribution matters, not in a generic way, but in a way that lands personally. In my Core Strengths workshop, I talk about how people are motivated differently, and appreciation needs to match what matters to them. Some value recognition, autonomy, impact, connection, or mastery. Your job as a leader is to know what matters to each person and acknowledge contribution in ways that resonate. There's extensive research showing that feeling valued and recognized strongly predicts retention and engagement. Appreciation is not a perk, it's a retention strategy. And finally, tip number five: don't let weak links remain unchecked. This one is often overlooked, but hugely important. If there is someone you have tolerated low performance from for too long, your best people notice. High performers experience this as unfairness, extra workload, lowered standards, or compromised culture. And over time, it erodes morale. Research in organizational psychology shows that perceived inequity and tolerated underperformance are major drivers of disengagement and turnover among high performers. Your best people want to work in environments where standards matter, contribution is respected, and accountability is real. When weak performance goes unaddressed, strong performers often leave, not because of their own experience, but because of what they observe leadership tolerating. Accountability protects your culture and your best talent. So in closing, if retaining great people is a priority for you, consider these five leadership practices: vision, relationships and culture, growth opportunities, personalized appreciation, and maintaining standards. Compensation matters, but leadership experience matters just as much, and often more. People stay where they feel a sense of meaning in their work, connected, growing, valued, and proud of the standards around them. And the good news is these are all leadership practices within your influence. So, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Share it with another leader who needs it. I'll see you next time. Like what you heard on today's episode and want to go deeper? Subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also pick up my book, Lead Anyone, on Amazon. Then, go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals. From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results. Go to www.eliseboggs.com for more info.