Investing in managers: why attracting, training, and retaining the best leaders is critical

Interviewer: Today, I'm interviewing author and executive coach Ms. Erica Keswin on her article in Harvard Business Review, "To retain your best employees, invest in your best managers," published on 1st of December 2022. I'm doing so within the context of a trilogy of best sellers: Bring Your Human to Work, 2018, Ritual Roadmap, 2021, and the Retention Revolution, 2023. Listeners are expected to have at least read the HBR article before listening to this interview. Ms. Keswin, thank you for sparing the time. If I understand your opinion correctly, it is that: 1. Managers should acquire the skills of good managers. 2. This is best done by managers learning in peer group programs, not through top-down training. 3. Companies must create the structures to enable this to happen. If this is correct, it seems very sensible. Does it mean that one ought to be able to identify in every company other than the smallest, the person heading this activity, and in practice, is that the case? If not, why not? Ms. Keswin. Ms. Keswin: It's quite a question. Thank you for having me, and I love talking about this topic. To answer your question, the first thing I would say is: 1. Yes, there are specific things managers can do to be great leaders in this moment to retain their people.