Its fascinating that attrition is used in the context of people and organisations. A cursory check of the word “attrition” on Merriam Webster Online is very revealing: “the act of wearing or grinding down by friction; the act of weakening or exhausting by constant harassment, abuse, or attack; a war of attrition; a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death; a company with a high rate of attrition.”

If we are to really understand the cause for attrition we must focus on it as a process of erosion that results in a ratio. If the boss is not a leader in the real sense, every interaction with him wears down the individual, exactly like the sea wears down rocks.

By continual harassment, criticism, sarcasm and abuse the boss can erode the enamel of motivation and self-esteem in the entire organisation. Since the boss sets the standard, obnoxious behaviour cascades down the organisation. “Boss behaviour” is a prominent driver of the “culture of obnoxiousness”. The obnoxious boss is the lead contributor to the attrition rate!

Anyone who wants to be an obnoxious boss and thereby run his company into the ground can behave in the following ways:

always underrate and berate your team; shout at them frequently and question their commitment and competence;

never be available to meet or discuss anything with anyone below you; keep people waiting indefinitely;

don’t listen; specialise in dispensing unsolicited advice on everything;

answer all your (mobile) telephone calls and continue to send and receive SMS and emails on your Blackberry while in a meeting or when someone is talking to you; walk in and out of meetings at will;

tell the subordinate of your subordinate that his boss is no good;

don’t let people do their jobs in peace by chasing them continuously;

never acknowledge or answer email and phone calls from your subordinates;

expect your subordinates to drop everything and run to you when you want to see them;

specialise in saying no to your subordinates, especially when they want leave;

instead of helping someone learn from a mistake, always say “I told you so;”

be a constant source of discouragement; always throw cold water on every idea they share with you; always look for reasons why their ideas wont work;

cast doubts on the integrity of everyone at every opportunity;

make casual promises with no intention of keeping them;

pass sarcastic and personal remarks;

always look for someone to blame.

Every CEO needs to rate himself on these behaviours (the Obnoxiousness Scale); if he’s really courageous he can ask his subordinates to rate him on this unforgiving scale. Then, perhaps, we’ll begin to see some action that culminates in reducing the attrition rate!

More Stories on : Management | Human Resources

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page