To get to the bottom of the problem, I visited the store unannounced and interviewed employees informally. What I found surprised me – the turnover was largely due to a bad manager. Employees were leaving because he didn’t encourage them to be a part of the solution.
Later in my career, the importance of good managers became clear again when Inmac consolidated its call centers into a large national operation in Dallas. In 1993, we had to hire 150 people experienced in sales and customer support for PC products and services. The employment market was tight, software companies, systems integrators and consulting firms were growing, and retention was more difficult than ever. Again, I found that poor managers equaled more employees walking out the door, resulting in lower overall performance.
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