Hanna Bauer: Why Employees Leave and How Leadership Drives Retention

Hi i'm debbie longo transformational coach and

welcome to the behavioral profit show this show

is about one thing why businesses don't perform

the way they should. Most leaders think they

have a strategy problem, but they don't. It's

behavioral. And it's how decisions are made,

how pressure is handled, and how people operate

inside the business day to day. On this show,

we break down what's really driving missing targets,

stalled growth, and poor execution, and what

shifts when behavior changes. Because when behavior

changes, performance improves, and that's where

profit comes from. We have a very special guest

today, Hannah Bauer, and we're going to take

a closer look at what's really going on inside

her business, what's working, what's not. where

behavior may be impacting performance. Let's

get into it. Good afternoon, Hannah. Welcome

to the show. Hello. Good afternoon. Thanks for

having me, Debbie. I mean, it's been amazing

just being able to zoom in this chat with you

and really, behavior really does drive performance.

So I'm all in to have a wonderful conversation.

Perfect and thank you for being here. So I'm

going to ask you today to give an example of

a situation or scenario that you've experienced

at some point in your life where something happened

in your business and the process of how you got

through it and the end result. And the end result

should always be positive. Now I do the show

for a few different reasons. And one main reason

is because every business is not perfect. There's

always things going on. There's always issues.

And the ultimate goal here, whatever we try to

do, whatever we talk about, the ultimate goal

is for the businesses to increase sales and profits.

Because if the business doesn't make money, then

it can't function. I'm going to ask the listeners

if they could identify with anything, any part

of your example in business that you're giving,

or the process, any part at all, if they could

identify with that, then they could listen to

what we have to say, to what our process is,

and how you got through this, and how you got

over the hump. And this might... educate a business

owner, executive or whoever, maybe that's going

through a similar change to this that doesn't

really know how to get through it. Or maybe they

think that this is just the way that it's going

to be. I'm just a failure in my business and

that's it. This is not the way that it should

be because there's no such thing as a negative

because anything negative, especially in business,

can always be turned around. It could always

come into a positive. So what is a failing business

could be a successful business in a very short

period of time, nine times out of 10. This is

really the bottom line of just a small piece

of what we're trying to accomplish here. So if

you could do that for me, I would appreciate

it. Thank you. Oh, yeah. So for me, actually,

it had come shortly after we had just won an

award for finalist as a manufacturer of the year,

which at that point I was like, hey, on cloud

nine. I'm like, oh, my gosh. We actually did

the thing of a few months, actually, not even

a full two years before that. I had just had

to let go of 60 % of my workforce because of

the disruption that was happening in the marketplace.

So to say that we got this award and we were

at essentially like, oh, we were on the other

side. And of course I was getting myself a good

pat in the back. We're all good. And we get back

in and what do I get? I have a resignation letter.

Definitely not what I wanted, the resignation.

I mean, I had like, what? We are in the middle

of actually on our way up. Look how far we've

come. Obviously, I had made a lot of changes.

Obviously, I hadn't been devoted for transformation

to even be at this place where we were about

to close our doors two years. But what I had

not realized was the leakage of the talent that

was happening in my workplace. And this letter

has not only slapped in the face what I thought.

It took it so personal. I did what most people

do with any CEO executive at that point, which

was to call a meeting. Because how could this

be happening? What in the world is going on?

And come to find out even that the person was

leaving me, not because of even a higher paying

job. Actually, he was taking a lower payment,

but in a place come to find out that was considered

less stressful. in a sense, somewhere where he

would belong and not felt like an outsider or

someone who was failing. And at that point is

where I, of course, took it very personal. Of

course, took it like, hey, I just invested all

this training in you. We just went through the

hardest part. We came on the other side. We're

not saying it. Even outsiders are saying it.

How can this not be the place you want to be

at? And even like, I couldn't pay him enough

to stay. And that was a harsh reality for me

when I started looking at the people around and

when we started talking, I realized I had not

noticed that there had been this leakage in the

changeover. How many people we were even having

coming in or coming out, I took it more like,

hey, they just kind of, it wasn't a good fit.

It didn't quite really. know what we were doing,

but I did not see it as really what it was. And

that really was from my Six Sigma learning is

the loss of human potential. I was not capturing

what the potential was in my people because honestly,

I didn't know my people. And it wasn't until

I started, I made that change. I mean, in all

honesty, I had gotten so much into processes

and systems. through Six Sigma, which was great.

I mean, it did its job. It did what it needed

to do, except it was not sustainable. And it

wasn't sustainable because, again, it is the

processes are for the people. They run by people.

It's great, this theory that we have input, output,

input, output, and it works great until you put

a human in there. And the human is not linear.

A human is a complex being. And I had left this

complex, beautiful being out of my everyday process.

And I had to make that change. And the change

was for me to go learn the human behavior. I

needed to learn how to communicate with my people

because obviously what I was calling communication

was not communication for them. And that's where

I became certified in this, got to learn not

only how I communicated, but how it was. people

receive my communication, but better yet, how

can I communicate and connect with them better?

It was a process. Again, it was a lot of learning.

But the first thing I had to understand is not

only who was I doing work with, but why were

we even working together? And in that why working

together, I started learning their dreams. I

started learning why was my salesperson there.

One of the things I remember the first time I

really asked, okay, why are you here? especially

as we were just making it up from coming from

a very tragic place. He shared with me that he

was really working there because he just had

had a baby. Well, first of all, mistake number

one, I didn't know that. I should have known

that my employee had just had a baby. Somebody

should have told me so. That was the first one.

It's like, oh, this is what I learned when I

started becoming intentional to learn who my

people were. Even more he wanted to see that

be his little baby's toes inside the sand and

he wanted to make that memory with his child

because he didn't have that opportunity with

his father and he wanted to make a change for

his family and it started with that and Suddenly

that vision for him became my vision, but then

it wasn't just that I started doing the same

thing with my person in the front desk now she

was in one of my elder employees, and this was

actually her last job, what she would consider,

this is my last job. She was getting ready to

then retire. And I even asked her, well, why

are you here? She didn't have to be, she was

choosing to be here. And she told me it's because

she wanted to end and she wanted to end well.

And at that point I was finding out what would

make her end well. What was it? She believed

in the vision and the purpose of the company.

It was what she was living for. It was what she

wanted to retire. That to her, working in a place,

in a vision, in a mission that she could believe

in would end well a long life career. The burning

question for me at that point was, what type

of business, what type of organization did we

have to become so that these dreams not only

were supported, but these dreams would become.

facts, they become reality. But I understood

that now, at that point, it wasn't only the bottom

line. The bottom line was necessary, but it was

even so much more than that. And I would have

totally missed that moment. I would have totally

missed what we were able to do even better than

getting an award or recognition from out there

because we're so efficient. But I would have

missed that moment of becoming an organization

that valued our people, but even becoming an

organization that, as we kept on going later

on, helped be innovative in a time where disruption

was happening all over us. And that's what we

did. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. And that

was a very good example. Thank you for that.

What was the process when you got the resignation

letter all the way until this person quit and

resigned? That process like the process first

of all for me was to calm down Taking out what

it was but exit interviews. I mean I did I had

learned the value of exit interviews I needed

to get feedback So that was one of the things

and that's what I realized not down the grapevine

Not like you like somebody telling me somebody

heard somebody heard but actually had value I

needed to know what the exit interview and I

did value him That much that I needed to know

what it was. So that was the first process and

then really understanding because of course I

wanted to keep them I need to know like hey is

there an opportunity for us to continue working

and I really that's when I understood I could

not pay him enough There was it wasn't a paycheck.

It wasn't the amount in the paycheck. It was

the environment So that process was there for

us being able to capture that the second process

is hey listening Because somebody can tell you

that, say, well, that's their problem. We still

got people here going. And no, I mean, for me,

I really took that to heart. And that was, again,

coming up because I didn't want to let go 60

% of my employees. I mean, I had done everything

so that we would prevent exactly that. And that's

what we have become, Transform Over Two Years,

so that now we can... hire everybody back and

make sure everybody's gonna get a paycheck. And

of course me as an owner is they call them not

going to jail because I can't pay my employees.

So that was definitely part of it. So to hear

that now it wasn't because lack of work, but

this person was choosing to leave me. It brought

back to what my mentor John Maxwell says that

people don't leave organizations, people leave

people. And realizing that okay it wasn't just

your it wasn't really an organization but really

it had become a leadership problem. And something

that i definitely had to also the process for

that is also becoming aware of where's the root

problem at and the root problem was right here.

It started with me. It started with the leadership.

It started with what our leadership, the entire

structure of leadership, what was the support

that he was getting from not just me, but from

the other leaders that were there. That we have

structure in the way that we were providing that

support to the leaders, especially to the middle

line managers. What was that support? What was

that feedback loop? Then I did start looking.

The process was one, acknowledging for me, the

other ones start asking questions. I couldn't

do anything else for him. I mean, he went on

and had his own separate life, which was great.

It was this award for him. But I still had a

responsibility, again, to not only be able to

care for the ones that were with me, but also

understand how I can prevent that. At that point

with Six Sigma, And both of my previous, I just

wanted to care. I mean, I wanted to care. I just

was caring in a different way. I was caring with

processes and systems, and I didn't understand

that I had to put in just as much time, if not

even more, to the human aspect so that these

processes and systems could amplify what the

humans were already doing, not the other way

around. So that was part of what the process

became. Yeah so thank you for that and that was

very good very detailed and it really gave an

enormous amount of information because you touched

on a lot of different areas of what you went

through and what your process was and they were

all different we didn't just focus on one thing.

which is good because when you combine all these

different ideas and processes and things that

happened into one example one scenario then we

can see that multiple things are happening it's

just not one problem one issue no no there was

a few things that i was thinking of when you

were. Speaking and one thing was that I always

want to pay attention to the people first If

I'm a business owner or an executive, I don't

want to pay attention to the business first So

if I pay attention to the people first I'll get

more out of my people and then the business will

increase in sales and profits but if I pay attention

to the business first to the numbers and the

sales and the profits and how am i running my

business and i'm not paying attention to the

people first then the people will leave. What

the people will be unhappy or the business owner

winds up controlling and manipulating their employees

and we don't know what's gonna happen after that.

This is just one thing that i'm getting out of

this and also like i mentioned about all the

different things now i wanna ask the listener.

to rewind this, because there's a lot of information

here, and we made a lot of different points about,

I'm not gonna repeat every one that you said,

but we gave a lot of different examples of multiple

things that could happen with one situation,

one scenario. So I'm gonna ask the listener to

rewind this and listen to each one. and see if

they could identify with that and employee resigning.

Maybe that is not your situation, but maybe one

of the things that went wrong in the example

that we just gave here, maybe the business owner

or the executive is going through this same type

of problem or things that went wrong. Because

believe it or not, human beings have behavior

and they follow each other. and we copy each

other and things just go down the line. So what

you're saying, there's a very, very, very good

chance that there's got to be at least one person

listening to this that has experienced something

of what you said. And this is why your story

and the way that you told it and the examples

that you gave and the problems that you had is

extremely valuable. There was a mismatch in perspective.

I thought I was caring for them and I thought

it would show because of my commitment and my

processes and my things, basically relentless.

However, the way it was perceived was not that.

It was perceived more like another cold thing

by management, somebody who's just trying to

get things done. It really left them on the side.

So really, I think a lot of times it's just that.

And I think everybody may have felt that at some

point where you do something and it's misinterpreted,

that wasn't your motivation or your intention

at all. On the contrary, my whole goal had become

to make sure that I would never have to lay off

anybody. That was, I wanted to preserve. I wanted

them to be able to provide for their families.

I wanted them to do great things through this

work, but they didn't come across that way. It

came across as somebody that was being called

that was relying into things that we needed at

the time. It wasn't the right decision, but you

cannot rely on processes and systems and leaving

the person behind. And that was really where

the perspective gap was at. And that gap easily

could have been closed again with keeping first

what is first, and that is people. That was very

good. Thank you. But there are multiple things

going on and you recognize all of them in your

business. And you were able to turn this around,

right? Where you're not struggling anymore. And

this is what it is. This is the best way that

I want to be able to look at myself and say this.

And sometimes something triggers something else.

If I see a problem or an issue or something that

I need to correct. Then I say, OK, I'm going

to do that. Then I say, oh, wow. And now I see

something else. Of course. And I didn't I didn't

realize that until I saw this one thing. Then

I fix this other thing. Then something else comes

up. And so each time I recognize something and

I do something about it, I don't just recognize

that there's an issue or a problem. And then

I leave it alone and I say. It'll correct itself.

It's not happening. So this is what I don't want

to do. And I want to be able to see, because

most people have like more than one issue, that's

really the bottom line here. But if you can see

one and you're able to correct one, then that's

fine. No, I love what you just said there, because

I think it's true. It's like you want to see

like, oh, everything I need to do. No, just take

that one. Just take that first step, because

after you take that first step, then you're going

to be able to see the next step. And I would

say that's true with everything. I mean, you

don't know. Yeah, like my case, I did fail. We

did have success in one thing, but then I failed

at the very thing that I knew was going to be

needed for my business to make it through. But

nonetheless, you know, everything was with one

step, everything we had to fix certain things.

There's decisions that are right for that time.

I think the mistake comes in is when we get stuck

in believing that whatever fixed it last time

is going to fix it again, when we know that everything

is changing. So taking that one step and being

able to get through, but also being open enough

to understand that there's still more things

and that this is not the one and all solution

for everything. Being that humble enough and

also being open. in every step, but just take

that first step because you really won't know

what the next step is going to be until you've

taken that one. And it may work, it may not work,

but that's a good thing. That's a good thing

about being alive. We have always have opportunity

and really our greatest lessons come from our

greatest failures. It's always baby steps, but

I don't want to be in denial where I think there's

not a problem when I know that there's multiple

problems. And that's a big thing that I find

also. Any business owner, it doesn't matter who

you are or executive or whoever you are, can

get through anything. They can get through the

other side as long as they trust the process,

as long as they create the willingness to say,

I think there might be something wrong. That's

it. Nobody's asking for... to want to do it,

you know, and have the problem solved and everything

is going to be perfect in two seconds. Because

it sounded like the way that you explained your

story and everything, that it was a process for

you, too. And obviously you explained how it

was. If I just can say that I think something

is wrong or I might want to maybe do a little

better in my business, my business. did not do

good as good last year as it did the year before,

or it's not on the right track this year, or

something like that, before it gets to the point

where your situation, where people quit and this

and that, and that is, like I said, this is what

you were talking about, which this is what I'm

saying, the way that you said it, the way that

you said the process and everything. was just

very, very good because you just laid it out

in a very, very, like, organized kind of way.

To me, it sounds like somebody could really understand

that, and it was also simple. So this is the

thing. So the business owner maybe wants to think.

Just think. Nobody's saying that you have to

do anything right this second. Take action. You

don't have to be Superman or Superwoman. You

don't have to be. Just think. Is there anything

here that you can relate to, the listener, as

a business owner or an executive? And maybe if

there is... Maybe you want to think about correcting

that or think about if there's something that

you can do about that. And maybe that will help

your business. If you don't think it will, then

that's fine. And this is really one of the main

goals of this. What is the result of that and

how do you feel today based on all of that? Sure.

So what it really taught me was the value of

alignment, because there was a misalignment between

what I said and what I was keeping track of.

As I mentioned, I didn't realize the leakage

that was happening in my business. Had I had

the metrics, had I had the measurements in place

what to look at, I could have seen this before.

So it wasn't like a hidden thing like surprise.

No, it was basically if we keep going this way,

this is what's going to happen. But if I didn't

have my pulse of where my organization was and

really measured those things that were important

to my business, I was going to miss it every

time. So what I would say is, are those things

that you say are important to your business?

How do you know? And how are you keeping track

of that? Because in that case, and that's what

I had to learn, it wasn't just what people were

not going to understand my motivation or the

things, or even me, the decision -making process.

I mean, if I'm trusting my leaders to decide.

how would they decide if I'm not giving them

the right framework or the right priorities to

make the decisions with? And that all goes back

again to alignment. So really what came out out

of all this is understanding is, am I really

keeping track of those things, the measurements

of what we say are important to us as an organization,

are important to the vision, and are important

to the mission? And I would tell that that's

what really the audience needs to know that.

Are the measurements, it's what you're tracking,

really supporting and letting you know those

very things that you value, your people, if it's

your product, your client experience, your customer

experience, what is it that you say in your values?

How do you know that indeed your organization

is being a champion for that and also everybody

in your company knows that this is how? we value

it, it's how we measure it, it's how we not only

behave this way, but this is what we reward,

this is what we want to see of. So that's what

I would say in DLM and that's really what I learned,

understanding to be able to communicate that

across entire business and then going back to

the psychological safety because then that meant

that my leaders were specifically, I gave them

the perspective, I gave them the lens. to what

support, to what motivate more of, to what is

it that we really wanted to see alive in our

business. In our business, I wanted to become

that business that made those dreams happen,

that allowed for people to take vacations, enjoy

their kids, finish well, be with us for a long

time, because they were working with us for years,

that we were the place that they wanted to end

well with. Perfect. That's a great ending. And

that's a fantastic closing. And I thank you for

that. And in closing, I would like to say that

anybody Any business owner can get through any

problem or issue or anything that they have because

there's no such thing as a negative, because

anything that's any negative situation can always

be turned to a positive, providing that I create

some type of willingness or something to see

that there might be something going on. And then

I want to think about whether I'm going to take

action on that. If you could relate to anything

that was said here, I appreciate. to rewind this

and listen again. Before we wrap up, I want to

leave you with this. That's what behavioral profit

is all about, understanding what's really driving

performance inside a business. If something isn't

working, it's easy to assume it's strategy, the

market. or external factors, but more often than

not, it's how the business is operating day to

day. Once that shifts, everything else follows.

If your business isn't performing the way it

should, there's a reason, and it's not random.

If you want to identify what's driving your results

and fix it, connect with me directly. Thank you

for listening to this episode, and thank you,

Hannah, for being on the show. I appreciate it.

Thanks. Thanks for having me.