Retention through redemption

Corporate America and the U.S. Navy share one big problem: employee retention. Today's knowledge workers hop from start-up to start-up. And 40% of the navy's new recruits leave the service before their four-year tours of duty are up. D. Michael Abrashoff came face to face with the navy's retention problem when he took command of the USS Benfold. Before he became captain, sailors couldn't get away from the ship fast enough. Today the vessel is the pride of the Pacific fleet, and sailors from other ships are clamoring to join its crew. In this firsthand account, Abrashoff explains how he got the ship and its crew back on course by breaking bad habits--personal and professional ones--and jettisoning old attitudes. During his 21 months aboard the Benfold, Abrashoff came to realize that in today's technology-intensive U.S. Navy, the traditional command-and-control style wouldn't work. And it hadn't--the Benfold's 310 sailors had cheered derisively when Abrashoff's predecessor had left the ship. So he defied 225 years of navy tradition in his quest to engage the sailors in their work, increase their performance, and keep them around for their entire tours of duty. He retained his crew by redeeming them--showing them how to be not just better sailors but better people, too. That meant breaking them down when they were at their worst and then building them up to reach their best. It also meant personal redemption for Abrashoff; he resolved to really listen to what his sailors were saying. The result? Cost-saving ideas for the entire navy and surging confidence and commitment among crew members.