Holding on to your best people can be a mistake, says manufacturing CEO

As a manager, it can be tempting to do everything within your power to hold on to your best people.

But that kind of thinking can ultimately backfire on you as a leader, explained Dharmesh Arora, regional CEO for Asia Pacific at German manufacturer Schaeffler.

Arora learned this lesson the hard way during his first managerial stint as a supply chain manager at General Motors.

“I had hired a very bright engineer from a reputed engineering college in Mumbai. Within three years, he helped me fix some of the perennial demand management and supply chain challenges we had in our systems,” Arora recalled.

Then the engineer asked Arora for an opportunity to increase his skills within the company’s sales team.

“I didn’t let him go. Within two months, he quit the company [to] work for a competitor. I had learned my lesson,” he said.

“We as managers, as leaders, are to empower and enable the best in our team members,” Arora said. “When they outgrow what they’re doing, let them go and try their hand at something that they aspire to do. Better still, help them see what more they are able to do.”

This is just one of Dharmesh Arora’s five biggest lessons. Watch the video above to learn about the others.