Asset Retention Strategy
When PMs strategize & execute over some real tough situations, the least an organization could do is think of strategies targeting their retention. What's the trouble in retaining high performing PMs?
PMs & Products
Gone are the days of those big brand IT houses who would welcome hire people - very surprisingly without tying it to a ongoing need / requirement that they perhaps had advertised for. Strange as it may sound today, they believed in hiring talent first, onboarding them onto a “project” (yes, I said project) much later. There were many organizations operating over this model of body-shopping over which they resorted to mass-recruitment drives in trying to find and fill-in across hierarchies, is the real startling bit. (Psst… some still do!)
But, the tide seems to have turned against them for now based on the trendlines & numbers cropping up in the recent past. As of today, you have qualified Tech people who have chosen to join budding start-ups that are either in the early / growth stages.
The big driving motivation behind all this is “the aspect of personal & professional growth and at a startling rate too” which all starts from the product over an idea serving as a base for all the development activity and scaling that happens across the product offering, customer segments, revenue generation cycles, teams et. al. And at the top, one would need to have really capable staff contributing strategically at various stages playing these roles specifically:
A visionary who can think big & ahead of the current time
An operator who can handle scaling, growth activities & do justice to numbers
A leader who can also scale teams as required to support the strategy
Look towards the world and you’d find the most successful leaders / entrepreneurs carry all these traits and it would be like quoting the obvious here when I refer to Steve Jobs & the first iPhone.
In a product based organization, in all certainty one would need great product managers who ideally are good at all the above 3 but that could be a rarity. So, one would have to compromise over which type of product person to hire & at what stage (or) which type of work one would want the PM to get down to immediately and apportioned suitably over his 30, 60 & 90 schedule.
Come to think of it, PMs themselves aren’t any lesser than the products they build & scale. With that, one naturally ought to think that the retention rates of such high performing PMs would be shooting through the roof. But sadly enough, that isn’t really the case at all.
Why!?
Importance of Retention
Let’s take the case of an early stage startup who is working on a new & niche idea.
By now, I guess we all possess the understanding that not all ideas generated are good enough to be taken ahead, some are just as worthy enough to be pulling the plug on initially when the worthy others make the cut and hop over to the next stages.
Sometimes the time and effort over evolving the idea in itself is worth in millions of dollars owing to capturing a certain specific niche that sets the product totally apart and gets it to standout in the market, the way it picks out a problem / burning issue that tons of people in the market correlate to and addresses it in a very unique way that helps carve out that niche and lock that section of users into using the product for a long time by keeping them interested and in awe.
Now, let’s say for some reason which isn’t directly related to the work the PM is putting in and in no way linked to his commitment & dedication, the management and the leadership don’t pay any heed to his performance and behave nonchalantly with him, let alone being appreciative / rewarding.
What would the next course of action for the PM be?
Picture yourself in that situation, pop that question to yourself and the obvious answer would ring aloud in your ears and you’d be surprised how less time that took.
And that there, is not the end of the problem.
And consider a case where an organization thinks they could do better with some new PMs and don’t do anything at all to retain the existing ones. For the ones coming in, you just can’t expect the same reception, same energy levels, same madness over being sold over that goal from DAY-1. It may take time for the newbie to adjust and in some cases even if those adjustments were to happen over whatever cooling period, it could still fall terribly short of where it was in comparison to the previous PM. The dynamics to cope with could be a case of “too much too soon” for someone coming in, even with all the documentation.
But, it is the survival of the fittest after all.
Also talking in the parlance of any product, today people running the show know how important a metric like "Retention" could be, a lagging indicator no doubt, but still worth its weight in Gold.
Retention is a single largest factor that substantiates PMF (Product market fit)
To avoid all these hiccups over whatever stage of your product, it ought to be important to think of a Retention strategy esp. for PMs & PM teams as much as you think of the other employees as well.
Question: - But, is the retention of those assets - the high performing PMs really that simple and does it have a parallel as applicable to the other job roles?
Answer: - Certainly not! Neither is it easy nor is it similar to the other job roles.
Troubles over Retention
Some stats:
It is said that any organization on an average is bound to bear roughly with 15-20% attrition rate and that’s seen an increase of 57% YoY according to the census online for the fiscal year 2021. But, if something like that were to happen in a product team over good visionaries / leaders quitting midway between the product ideation and the release / growth phases it would be nothing less than a nightmare to find others to fit in to their shoes and replace them.
NOTE: Not to mention, the lost time might as well mean totally lost opportunity in some cases.
Let’s now explore the main reasons, motivations that lead to the common attrition troubles an organization faces & how they struggle to retain good product people & also how the incorporation of even tons of employee-friendly policies doesn’t yield the expected results for talent acquisition teams.
Here’s a Fishbone analysis of the problem & the causes.
Fair warning: These are all lagging indicators no doubt, which means the damage might have already been done and you are now running a post-mortem.
Let’s explore each of these problems in more detail now.
1. Toxicity over product culture
This is mostly the number 1 reason quoted by product people for quitting the organization mid-way. Toxicity could mostly occur over favoritism, archaic systems, methods used to rate, reward & incentivize employees & a total lack of transparency.
The danger with this issue is, it may not be that easily discernable for the HR / TA teams when they happen to run a scan from the outset as this problem may be very deep rooted within the process that’s subjectively followed internally within teams which may be totally outside their purview & also at some places they may not be that easily accessible.
Identification - How does one spot “Toxicity”?
The identification would mostly occur within internal product teams. And when such things start to occur repeatedly, they ought to get reported (and escalated if needed) to leadership / talent acquisition managers without any delays. Also, the policies & culture followed in the organization will have to pave way for this communication to happen amicably.
2. Micromanagement from leadership
Another common reason which in a way also contributes to people deciding to quit their job over a period of time is micromanagement from the top bosses. Over the recent past I have myself faced questions as much as I have also heard some instances where even the CXOs get into regular Scrum meetings & sometimes daily standups because they worry too much about the team’s performances in spite of having a proper hierarchy & people filled in.
The danger here is in spite of the fact the whole issue coming to light, nothing could be done because it turns into a question which is – “who’s to tell the CXO what he ought to be doing and what he shouldn’t?” And just supposing someone did, he’d most certainly be at the receiving end over the burden of bearing the harshest answer – “don’t try and teach me, go back to your job”.
Identification - How does one spot “Micromanagement”?
This one could be fairly simple. There is a way of the world and in how it is all supposed to function hierarchically. Each and every role has a certain degree of responsibility attached that’s predefined. But, what may not be clearly defined there perhaps is the percentage of tactical : strategic responsibility. The most common reason for that is people go by the theory that, “it is all understood and there’s no need quote the obvious”.
Anytime, if someone especially the higher-ups feel the necessity to go overboard and get into the nitty-gritty & begin to get their hands dirty over tasks that fall under the direct purview of their team members / direct reports lower down, that situation ought to suffice over raising a RED flag.
3. Distrust & disbelief
This is deadly dangerous and often a silent killer and could be very hard for everyone involved. Trust issues often are deep rooted over people using their past experiences to frame opinions which later on gets carried over as learning affecting the way they think about / take decisions which they eventually & subconsciously transforms into a belief over time.
The total danger over this scenario lies in how one wouldn’t be able to work smoothly, harmoniously with teams / members they don’t trust and believe in. What could start over a very small, negligible premise of trusting someone and then him / her not delivering within stipulated timelines & meeting the level of expectations, wouldn’t take much time to blow up, transpiring into a big trust issue.
Identification - How does one identify with “Distrust”?
This could be really very tricky. Either it is all revealed in a flash, like it often comes crashing down like a ton of bricks or it will just lie there like a free-standing structure that eventually gets abandoned over a period of time without you knowing any of the inherent reasons.
But still, what might work here is to closely watch out for friction between team members themselves as they may start taking sides (or) also between the team and the manager(s).
4. Discord between teams
The dissonance / disharmony in teams and their members could have many underlying motivations some of them include, misaligned teams, unclear goals, unclear management / leadership, unfair practices, siding one party / partial – selective approaches over treating people. When some of these situations could be temporary and induced over some organization restructuring, it often has to settle down over time clearing up the clout.
If unattended to, it could also lead to disrupting the peace & calm in the teams totally. Picturing a scenario where some members of the teams being divided already over an issue (however trivial that may be) has really nothing to do with the product / project / phase per se, irrespective of how much leadership tries to get their heads down towards solving the situation, it could never get completely eradicated and remnants of which are all the more dangerous as it would end up turning the members sour and completely opinionated, for what appears like it might all be happening for no real logical reason whatsoever.
Identification - How does one spot “Discord” in teams?
This could be pretty straightforward but at times it could also have deep situational dependencies making it really a tough nut to crack. Ultimately, we are all people – flesh and blood underneath our skins. A few repetitive instances could prompt some to exhibit their piece of mind and how they are merely a bundle of nerves in which case it automatically comes to light.
But, there could be people who don’t easily exhibit what & how they feel / what they are going through mentally, which is a banality typical of the corporate culture today. But still, watching the team metrics closely & observing patterns like consistent underperformances in spite of being star studded, failure to meet deadlines, repeated failures over customer satisfaction could yield something worth your while.
5. Narrow mindedness
This is another big team spirit killer. And, sadly this trait is selectively found almost everywhere. Whenever one talks of product teams in today’s parlance they talk of doing great work by collaborating seamlessly. But narrow mindedness in thinking / the vision could even go as much as to derail great ideas and totally stop teams from executing those ideas.
Some people really tend to focus on small things and target small wins always whilst losing sight of the big picture. It may be proven that not only do they completely lack a sense of vision but could also be incapable of digesting, understanding what elements make a great vision even when it is explained by stripping it down to basics. Such people could hinder teams from thinking big and pull them down via what could be their own self-doubt, skeptical approach and an outlook that shuffles ominously between perplexed to negative. Sorry state of affairs really!
Identification - How to spot Narrow-mindedness in team members?
Ideally this ought to be a mandatory exercise conducted during the interviews itself. This could be done by talking to those people straight and casually asking them what they think ought to be done over any given situation. Watch out and keep a keen eye out for answers that are mostly “I” centric and the tendency to pick small time goals, to pin on and also showcase those small achievements requiring a really less quantum of work or the totally misaligned prioritization. Also, such people tend to start off a lot of sentences with “I did….”, “I found out…”, “…through my research they were able to achieve that much sought after (x) deliverable.
Truth be told, there is often a requirement for such people in some organizations over getting their head down and concentrating only on their task / share of work over contributing their bit to the entire workflow and there could be no real danger that these people could pose until they hold higher positions that require them to possess big picture thinking - an inch-deep, mile-wide view if you will.
6. BONUS - Monetary benefits
Its a competitive world out there and that’s not only turned the job scene but also heated up the whole world to constantly keep comparing their positions, salaries, equity, ESOPs, roles, responsibilities with their peers (or) over what they consider an organization that’s at the helm of a given space, like the best automobile / mechanical engineers want to be working for the likes of Daimler, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Airbus et. al. and likewise when one talks of product people they would quote FAANG - Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google.
What could perhaps be wrong in having great expectations? Absolutely nothing and it is only human nature to stretch beyond the current levels and want more. But, it is such a basic & crucial commodity, the total lack of mostly certainly will lead to but a smidgen of which could amplify demotivation in most cases.