Responding to the 5 Questions You Need to Ask Your Direct Reports

There's an old adage: "People don't leave companies, they leave managers." The recent Harvard Business Review article detailing an all-too-familiar scenario with Sara, a departing employee, underscores the truth behind this sentiment. In the article, HBR highlights five questions every manager needs to ask their direct reports before they leave. Here we flip the questions to action statements and highlight how xtype can help retain your top talent.

The irony amidst the focus on digital transformation is that we aren't transforming the workplace. We still ask these questions when it's too late. Too many enterprises are still demanding on-prem work when technology has evolved to allow for remote collaboration and productivity sufficiently. Requiring on-prem work limits the talent and expertise pool you draw from.

This blog isn't about the pros and cons of remote work but rather that a shift is necessary to find and retain top talent. xtype was founded across three continents and ten timezones and has had no problems collaborating and producing products that revolutionize how ServiceNow professionals work with and delivery on the Now platform. Digital transformation must be about more than tech stacks but corporate culture, talent acquisition, and retention.

xtype, the Game Changer, and Time Saver

xtype's multi-environment visibility, controlled instance synchronization,

zero-touch deployments, accelerated delivery, and enhanced governance allow ServiceNow professionals to deliver features and apps on the Now platform at scale and acceleration. xtype customers deliver apps and features three to five times faster than without xtype.

The benefits xtype provides are many, but we will focus on what can be done with the time xtype gives back to your organization. Obviously, you could deliver more apps and features and shrink your undeployed backlog. But what if you invested some of this production capacity in your employees? For brevity, we will consider only two ways xtype can be used to invest in your employees.

1. Grow & Develop Careers Within Your Organization

According to Gallup, career development is the most crucial component to employee retention, and two-thirds of employees (regardless of level) leave their jobs due to a lack of career advancement prospects. The challenge is that with IT professionals workings evenings, weekends, and holidays, when is there time for career development?

With the time savings xtype provides your ServiceNow team, you can carve out time to implement regular training modules or mentorship programs to provide avenues for growth continually. Obviously, you need to ask your direct reports what role they would love to do and jointly make a plan according.

2. Adapt and Innovate as a Company  

If employees feel the company needs to tap into certain market potentials or could be more efficient, don't wait for an exit interview to find out. The additional capacity xtype provides your team can be used to tap the creativity and market expertise of your employees. Too many companies fail to include their employees' insights, knowledge, and opinions, and they do so at their peril. What do you think departing employees are doing at your competitors?

In James Surowiecki's book, The Wisdom of Crowds (pp. 188-189), a study demonstrated that the groups with the most diverse input/feedback consistently came up with better answers than most of their members. It additionally found that these same groups outperformed its best member(s). 

With all the current innovations in AI/ML, this should be obvious. The more neurons weighing in on a prediction, produce more accurate predictions. The same is true with your organization. Leveraging more brains (even the "crazy" ones) will result in better answers and decisions and will also result in better employee engagement and buy-in.

Conclusion

Investing a portion of the additional production capacity xtype provides your team can allow you to invest in your employees' career development. 

This investment moves you from a reactive to a proactive paradigm, where the needs and interests of employees can be put to work in advancing your objectives instead of competitors.

‍