“Boy, just 24 months after I hire them, they take off!”
A recent conversation I had with a CEO is just the latest of dozens I’ve heard complaining about hiring a Development Officer. “Yep,” I sympathized with him, “turnover is frustrating, counter-productive and all your fault.”
You can imagine the look I got. But I knew this situation well.
So I continued – “You’ve hired more than a few CDOs over the past few years and paid them well. You’ve invested in their training, conferences and networking. But training, conference attendance, networking – even great compensation – fails to give the most important element we all look for in a job: satisfaction.”
I continued to explain that more than anything today, Development Officers are looking for job satisfaction. They want to be successful and that depends, in large part, by the relationship you create with them and the relationship they create with you.
His smirk told me he was still disbelieving – so I asked three simple questions:
Yep. Your CDO does need to be your closest working relationship. You need to connect regularly. Your conversations need to be candid, with feedback coming back to you as well as you to your CDO.
So how are you doing? If you’re the CEO, how’s your connection with your CDO? How about you CDOs? Do you have a close working relationship with your CEO, or do you feel like the overlooked apple turnover, wondering why the donuts get all the attention instead of you?
Rapid CDO turnover isn’t good for anybody (except maybe HR recruiters). Take the time to sweeten your relationship with your CDO, and make sure they know how critical they are to your mission and your success.