Leaders who think training workers will make them more attractive to other employers have it all wrong, says the USTA CIO and executive coach.

I am always fascinated by the thinking in many organizations that goes something like this:”We can’t risk training and developing people in certain skills because that will make them more marketable, and they will leave!”

My experience has been that people don’t leave because they have had the opportunity to develop their skills; they leave because they have not had the opportunity to develop their skills. (And if the occasional person does leave for a better opportunity, God bless them and thank them for their contributions while they were in your employ.)

We have been able to dramatically broaden the scope of services we support, more than double the number of systems we support, and improve our client satisfaction metrics, all while lowering our operating budget by 18% and lowering our headcount over time by 24%. Not a bad track record.

The way we have been able to do this is by leveraging our most important asset: Our people.

Our team has had the opportunity to learn new skills, participate in areas that were previously outside of their “job descriptions,” and get involved in innovating in new ways that were previously not thought of. This has not only allowed us to drive greater value, but also has dramatically improved the quality of the team’s experience, as well as their motivation. People are jazzed to get involved in new projects and learn new skills. They are working harder than ever before, but they love it because it’s always fresh and never boring.

We also make sure that people are recognized for their efforts. I live by an axiom: ”When things go well, make sure your people get the credit. When things go boom, make sure that you as the leader fall on the grenade so that they don’t get hit with the shrapnel!”

Sounds like common sense, but you would be surprised how many so-called leaders throw their people under the bus when there are problems and suck up the glory when the teams succeeds. Needless to say, this is not my idea of real leadership.

Larry Bonfante is CIO of the United States Tennis Association and the founder of CIO Bench Coach, LLC an executive coaching practice focused on transforming the human side of IT leadership. He can be reached at larry@ciobenchcoach.com.

Back to Workforce News