Most job postings will include a section that informs candidates more about the company and the role, but won't mention the top predictor of employee tenure in a role: their manager and team. When candidates speak with HR, there's usually a focus on company culture, but we all know that individual teams have their own team subculture that may be slightly different.

Misinformed expectations

Let's look at two different candidates to see how their experiences might differ: Jorge and Sally both apply to XYZ Co. as a customer support representative because XYZ Co. is known in the industry to offer the highest salaries. While going through the interview process, they're told their salary would be higher, the role would be similar to their current role and XYZ Co. believes in good work-life balance and flexibility for their employees, so core hours are 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Jorge accepts this information and happily signs the offer and is excited to start in two weeks!

Sally wants to learn more about the core hours because in the past, the customer support teams she's worked with always had strict hours. When she asked her future manager about this, Sally was told that she was correct, and that unlike the rest of XYZ Co., the customer support team does indeed need to work 9 to 5. However, as a special perk to this team, every year, the entire team is treated to a week-long trip to Mexico to help them enhance their Spanish-speaking skills for customer support needs. Sally is excited about the trip and the opportunity to improve her Spanish and signs the offer.

A month after Jorge and Sally start at XYZ Co., Sally is engaged and takes every opportunity she can to learn more Spanish, in preparation for the upcoming trip. She's unbothered by the strict work hours as that's what she's used to from her previous company. Jorge on the other hand, is disgruntled about the work hours and feels lied to about the company culture. Jorge quits after two months because this wasn't what he signed up for.

Addressing the team's subcultures upfront during the interview process helps set better expectations with the candidate and may be a unique selling point for the role. Disclosing this information in the job posting itself will ensure every candidate applying will receive a more accurate depiction of how their team operates.

Sell your leaders

Now let's look at how more information about a manager might be helpful in today's market. For companies losing employees or trying to hire during this time of peak competition, the solution may be to focus on selling your leaders instead. Great leaders are capable of helping prevent regret and increase retention by handling the subliminal SOS new employees may set off when adapting to a new environment. Leaders will need to respond by communicating with empathy and provide adequate support and mentorship.

Let's look at the example below: A few years later, Sally is looking to apply internally to a Customer Success position within XYZ Co., but there are multiple teams with an open position. The positions are all very similar and managers are competing for the same talent. Vivian and Rodrigo both have an opening and would love to have Sally on their team. They spend time explaining the role to Sally as well as their expectations, talk about the subcultures of their respective teams and answer all of Sally's questions.

Sally has no idea how to choose between either of the roles because they seem fairly similar. She's at an impasse.

Rodrigo reaches out to Sally before she makes a decision and offers Sally the opportunity to talk to members of his team to see what they have to say about him. He also highlights different people within the company who he has helped coach throughout the years and how their careers have progressed.

Sally decides to join Rodrigo's team.

Although Vivian offers just as much opportunity to her team members and has helped just as many people reach success throughout her tenure at XYZ Co., not discussing it with Sally was a missed opportunity. When every job looks the same, these are the differentiators candidates need to help them make more informed decisions and combat regret.

It's common knowledge that people leave managers and bad leaders, but the opposite is also true — people join because of great managers and leaders.

Joanna Woo is head of people at CruxOCM, an O&G control room automation software company.

Read more: 

• 3 ways to attract and retain your best employees in 2022
• Is your company culture pushing employees away?
• 9 manager mistakes that make employees quit