A lesson in retention and the $10,000 comment

Donnie was the oldest intern ever to work in our office. Already successful in real estate and sales, he was now completing his master’s degree. He had located my training and consulting firm online. This being before the explosion of search-engine optimization, I was pleased that the true nature of our business had translated well.

Donnie was a productive team member who could help turn our innovations into profits. We all sensed that his marketing, graphics and advertising would, in fact, “steal the page,” as he enthusiastically bubbled. This was someone I wanted to keep.

• Rule 1: Innovation starts by keeping the right people.

One midweek afternoon, Donnie mentioned that his daughter, also working on her master’s degree, wanted to come by the office to see where her dad was doing his internship. The delightful young woman arrived and, sometime during the afternoon, stopped at my desk. I don’t recall how the conversation started, but I looked up, leaned forward to meet her eye contact and whispered, “Your dad is a genius. He’s doing great things around here.”

The next day, Donnie bounded into the office and pounced on me in our cramped lunchroom.  Stretching and enunciating each word, he said, “Rick, what you said to my daughter was worth a $10,000 bonus. I can never repay you!”

Relieved that I hadn’t cracked a bad joke, the full impact set in: Feedback matters. This man was more than an intern. He was also a dad, a role he took quite seriously.

Thank goodness he told me the day after. In a week, I might have forgotten the conversation. It was natural and spontaneous, a result of careful thought and training from the past. As usual, at that time in my career, I was doing what I taught my students – reading a book a month and studying the power of honest feedback and regular communication on employees, peers and even bosses.

In “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” Dale Carnegie tells the story of a surly post office worker slowly attending to postal customers in line. Finally at the front of the queue, Carnegie searched for a true compliment and tossed out something nice about the worker’s hair. The gentleman looked up, made eye contact and beamed. The atmosphere improved and service sped up.

• Rule 2: Study what works. Pay for it, then read, attend and apply.

In my book, “Triumph in Teams,” I suggest gently relaying – even exaggerating – the good things various team members do. In classes I suggest statements such as, “Did you hear how well Julie did on her client presentation?” or “I always notice how Andre sticks around when marketing needs help.” Somehow, this third-person honest feedback multiplies in impact and retention value. Of course, I believe and teach that direct feedback is best and that sticking to observable events are signs of a good manager. But, people resist and delay exiting a job where someone notices their value and spreads the news to others.

In Donnie’s case, I was thinking about innovation, not retention. I got both.

The intern became an employee and, many months later, Donnie made an unsolicited offer to purchase my California office when I was moving to Colorado. He felt connected to the business and saw a future in it.

• Rule 3: Take care of people and people will take care of you.

During most years, I get to travel to exciting places and speak before good people on different continents. I sure got a surprise in my own office those many years ago. A thoughtful, true comment was one of the better things I’ve ever said. It was good for a human being and good for my bank account.

Rick Griggs is the inventor of the rolestorming creativity tool and founder of the Quid Novi Innovation conference. Contact him at rick@griggsachieve.com or 970.690.7327.

on Facebook on LinkedIn