The Hidden Reason DSPs Quit

Transcription Did you see the Relias report that said 50% of DSPs report leaving their jobs because of their supervisor? And if you spend any time at all on LinkedIn, you’ve likely seen post after post talking about how employees don’t leave jobs — they leave bosses. In fact, in the Gallup research report entitled The State of the American Manager, 50% of those polled said the number one reason they left their job was to get away from their boss. Fifty percent. That means half of Americans are reporting that the number one reason they leave their position is because of their manager. That really caught my attention, given that I work in a field with incredibly high turnover. Welcome to the Provider Power Moves podcast. I am your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I leverage my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday. This episode is brought to you by TrueLink. TrueLink partners with hundreds of IDD organizations nationwide to streamline how clients receive and use their funds. Many programs still rely on paper checks, cash, and manual receipts — which creates risk and makes audits difficult. The TrueLink platform replaces that entire process with reloadable Visa debit cards, built-in spending controls, and audit-ready reporting. TrueLink keeps clients safer, gives staff back valuable time, and provides clear visibility into every transaction. If your organization is interested in learning more, check the show notes for contact information. So I wanted to pursue this idea of people leaving their managers at this massive scale a bit further. And here’s what I found. Gallup goes on to say that employees who are engaged are much more likely to stay in their jobs. So where does engagement come from? It turns out that managers account for at least 70% of the variance employees experience in engagement. Seventy percent. We all understand that communication breeds engagement, so it’s no surprise that with all of this disengagement, there are a lot of complaints about communication. When I work with providers, staff tell me the same thing over and over again: communication is always the number one complaint. Communication — or lack of communication, however you choose to look at it. I work with DSPs, frontline supervisors, upper-level management, CEOs, and people in between, across many departments. And I hear the same complaint repeatedly. That leads me to believe Gallup is correct. And it’s not just that information isn’t getting where it’s supposed to go — it’s that managers are afraid to speak at all. They don’t know what to say. They don’t know what they can say. They don’t know how to say it. If you’re watching on YouTube, you can see the chart that describes when managers are uncomfortable giving feedback. And if you’re listening on the podcast, I’ll link you to it in the show notes. The chart shows that 70% of the time, staff are unhappy with communication in general — which lines right up with those Gallup numbers. Thirty-seven percent of the time, the discomfort is around giving direct feedback or criticism. Twenty percent of the time, it’s demonstrating vulnerability — identifying that you, the supervisor, made a mistake and learned from it. Another 20% reflects an inability to recognize employee achievements. We know the number one and number two things people want from their jobs are acknowledgment and appreciation. Pay is actually third. Yet here we see that one-fifth of managers aren’t even comfortable acknowledging and appreciating an employee’s work. Another 20% of managers don’t feel they can seriously communicate the company’s message. And almost 20% struggle to give clear directions. Sixteen percent have difficulty identifying when a good idea actually came from someone else. And 16% of supervisors report that they struggle to speak face to face and would prefer to communicate by email. I’ll talk about email communication in another podcast. And I don’t know about your organization, but I’d guess that number is probably much lower than reality. Clearly, effective communication is paramount to keeping people on the payroll. So we really have to put in the effort to train supervisors to communicate effectively. A failure to communicate is certainly a problem. But what do employees really want from their jobs? We know what they’re struggling with — but what do they want? Studies show they want the opportunity to grow. Here’s another chart: what do employees think makes an employer attractive? Fifty-two percent want opportunities for career progression. Thirty-five percent want excellent training and development programs. That’s 87% who value and expect training that enhances job skills and supports movement along a career ladder. When millennials specifically were asked what they value most at work, the number one answer was training and development. So where does most of this training and development come from in our field? It comes from frontline supervisors. Skilled frontline supervisors don’t just fall out of thin air — and they don’t tend to fall out of colleges either. Frontline supervisors are DSPs who were promoted because they did their DSP work well. One of the greatest perks of the developmental disabilities field is that we promote from within. So why are so many people leaving? The Gallup report tells us that the problem with growth and development today is that it rarely happens. In the world of developmental disabilities, we spend a lot of time and effort on DSPs to keep turnover down — and we should continue to do that. But we virtually ignore frontline supervisors in that same effort. And that’s a mistake. Supervisors need the knowledge to support DSPs. They need skills to manage work and workloads — including their own. And they need the skills, time, and ability to identify and cultivate the next generation of frontline supervisors. Frontline supervisors are responsible for compliance, morale, person-centered planning, implementation, documentation, coordination of people, activities, supplies, appointments, vehicles, transportation — the list goes on. Everything rests on their shoulders. And they need help learning how to be good bosses and skilled managers. Investing in supervisor training empowers supervisors to serve as mentors, leaders, and effective communicators — which has a huge positive impact on DSP turnover and service delivery. So when you’re looking to decrease DSP turnover, don’t forget to enhance the skills of your frontline supervisors. What do you think? Leave me a comment, or shoot me an email at Sara — (S-A-R-A) — [email protected] . That’s in the show notes. Or ask me a question. I’d love to hear what’s on your mind and turn it into a podcast to give you the answers you’re seeking. Until next time — power on.