The secret to employee retention

Many companies invest heavily in leadership selection, but they provide very little in leadership transition. That’s where one of the main problems lies. The secret to employee retention is much straightforward than they think.

It’s a very proud moment when a talented employee gets their first leadership role, both for them and for the organisation. However, this is also the moment when the real challenges begin. The secret to employee retention, starting with management, can be summarised in one word: support.

Many companies invest a lot in leadership selection, but they provide very little or no support in leadership transition. And that’s where the problem lies.

When new managers don’t receive the support they need, the ripple effect will be noticed across teams: engagement drops, morale suffers, and turnover increases. In fact, research shows that employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers. According to Gallup, 42% of exiting employees say that their manager or organisation could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job.

So, why is supporting new managers one of the smartest retention strategies an organisation can adopt? Let’s dive in!

1️⃣ The Promotion Problem: From High-Performer to First-Time Leader

Most first-time managers land the role because they excelled in their previous role, as individual contributors. But let’s be blunt here: leadership is not a natural extension of technical excellence, it’s a completely new skillset.

Suddenly, their success depends on how well they communicate, motivate, and delegate, not on how well they do the work themselves. Without any guidance or support, this transition can feel overwhelming.

This feeling of uncertainty can quickly translate into self-doubt, micromanagement, and frustration that can push high-performing teams to disengaging or even leaving.

Supporting new managers helps close this gap. The secret to employee retention is about helping new leaders develop the mindset and tools to lead effectively instead of surviving day by day. It’s all about giving them the confidence to lead, to talk to their teams and to put the right boundaries without been pushed over or too harsh.

2️⃣ Confidence Grows When Support Is Present

Becoming a leader for the first time can be lonely at first. The new manager often feels caught between:

• their former peers, now reporting directly to them,
• and senior leaders, who expect them to get on with the job and figure things out as they go.

This leaves them unsure on how to show authority without damaging relationships. Coaching and mentoring will give them a safe space to reflect, experiment, and grow with their role.
They will learn how to put boundaries, give feedback, and make confident decisions, skills that will help them reduce stress and build trust within their teams.

A confident leader inspires confidence in others. And when people trust their leader, they tend to stick around for longer, put more effort into their work and be more engaged with the organisation’s goals.

3️⃣ Good Leadership Helps Increase Engagement

When managers lead with empathy and transparency, employees will feel valued and understood. Basically because they know what’s expected of them and why their work matters. The secret to employee retention is about helping everyone feel part of the organisation’s mission, instead of feeling like numbers just obeying commands from the senior leaders.

This sense of being connected and having a clear direction will positively impact on talent retention, not because people are afraid to leave, but because they don’t want to.

Engaged teams don’t happen by chance, they happen by design, and that design starts with capable, supported managers.

The highest performing teams are not the ones with the highest skills and more experience and PhDs. The highest performing teams are the ones where members feel safe to take risks and make mistakes. Numerous studies have proven that, but probably the most famous is Project Aristotle. This is a research project undertaken by Google to understand what increases performance and makes teams successful.

4️⃣ The Ripple Effect: Retaining More Than Just One Person

Investing in a single manager can impact ten, twenty, or even fifty people. A supported leader creates psychological safety, communicates with transparency, and models balance, which create a ripple effect through their team. It can even become “contagious” with the senior leaders or other teams too!

The result?
Lower burnout, higher retention, stronger collaboration, and employees who see a clear path for growth within the organisation.

Basically, developing one manager is like retaining the entire department.

5️⃣ It’s Not an Expense, it’s an Investment

Leadership coaching and training often get labelled as “nice-to-haves,” but they are much more than that.

Replacing a single employee can cost up to twice their annual salary, factoring in recruitment, onboarding, and lost time and productivity.
Now multiply that across multiple resignations caused by poor management. The numbers will speak for themselves.

Supporting new managers early is one of the highest-ROI investments a company can make.

So, let’s stop saying “soft skills are a nice to have” and start seeing the reality of the secret of employee retention. A happy and supported manager equals most of the time a happy and engaged team. They will all deliver better results and tend to stay longer if they feel the organisation has their back and invests in them.

Conclusion

Every new manager deserves the chance to succeed, and every organisation benefits when they do.

When companies prioritise leadership development at the beginning of the transition, they create stronger teams, higher engagement, and long-term loyalty. Plus the turnover rates go down and their revenue will increase.

Because when leaders feel supported, their people do too.
And that’s one of the biggest secrets to retention.

Think about it, if you had less employees leaving, you could invest the money saved on recruitment to support the growth and upskilling your current teams. This will help your teams to perform better and to stay longer, making your organisation even more attractive for when you actually need to hire new talent.

It’s a wonderful ripple effect that will take the organisation to the next level.

Shall we talk?

My Lead with Confidence programme is based on training and coaching new managers. This way, they have the necessary guidance and support while growing in a role that will probably shape the future of their career.