Merrylue Martin, author of The Big Quit Survival Guide: Tools and Tactics to Attract the Best, Retain Top Performers & Nail the Talent War
Merrylue Martin and Bill Ringle discuss the dangers of a dull work culture or toxic interactions that go unchecked and what you can do to attract and retain top talent for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 400 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
- The pandemic ushered in an era in which ‘respect’ is the currency that makes people stay in their job.
- Leaders who make an extra effort to keep their top performers usually do. No matter how high the pay, if employees feel that they are undervalued, disregarded, and disrespected, they move on. At least those with the most potential and ambition move on.
- Know your employees. Take a quick survey of what they like and dislike, or ask any questions that will give you a better understanding of who they are. This way, you’ll know how to give them respect in a way that matters most. Each person defines respect differently.
Show Notes from this Episode
- Merrylue shared about her friend Joanna who, during one of the darkest moments, reminded her that our quest is not to be perfect but only to be our best. [01:44]
- The pandemic accelerated changes that were already been building up tensions. Merrylue explains why today’s work environment is no longer “your grandfather’s workplace.” [07:26]
- Why is it important to avoid overloading top performers? [11:16]
- What is one of the dangers of top performers quitting? It tends to be a domino effect. After all, these are people their peers look up to. [13:40]
- What are stay interviews? What are some of the advantages stay interviews have over exit interviews? [17:20]
- Respect is defined differently by different people. Sally and Leroy’s answer to the question, “What is it that would be most respectful to you,” could not be further from each other. [20:15]
- What are the 3Rs that can be used to retain talent? Requirements, Rewards, and Respect. [24:16]
- CASE: Sandy works in the film industry in LA. She feels like she doesn’t get enough respect at work, so despite the excellent pay, she dreads her working hours. [27:52]
- CASE: Jim works for a start-up company. Unlike Sandy, Jim isn’t paid that much, but Jim loves his work. He is always looking forward to going to work, and that is because he feels like he is being treated like gold. [29:34]
- My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [34:56]
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Expert Bio
Merrylue Martin is a celebrated leadership strategist with decades of successfully working with global leaders and business owners of all types and sizes to make their employees feel uniquely respected, appreciated, fulfilled, and engaged. The recent release of her new book, The Big Quit Survival Guide, has received rave reviews and best-seller status in Amazon’s Office Management category.
As a Fortune 50 senior executive, educational administrator, management consultant, and business owner, she has comprehensive experience in creating and delivering strategies that engage and retain top performers.
Dr. Martin is an honored graduate of the Women’s Leadership program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctorate in organizational leadership and published dissertation from Pepperdine University uncovered the research that resulted in business and leadership practices that directly drive an employee’s decision to stay or leave an organization.
She has leveraged that work along with her learning and development background to put valuable information into practical ideas and tools that all leaders can immediately begin implementing to win the battle of attracting and keeping top-performing employees. She is Her primary message to all leaders and the organizations that support them is that people will always be people first and employees second.
When not working with people leaders, Merrylue enjoys interior design, dreaming up concoctions in her art studio, and writing puppet scripts for the preschool church crowd, who remain her toughest critics to date. She and her husband, James, enjoy being Gram and Gramps to twin girls and a new baby boy.
Contact Info and Social Media for Merrylue Martin
- Primary website
- Travels from: Carmel, IN
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources we discussed, so you can explore further.
Merrylue’s special thank you to My Quest for the Best listeners! Click on the link below and use the password: survival to access this amazing free content!
Additional Resources
Published by Merrylue Martin
