Are you leading your team or just managing them?

The difference between a manager and a mentor can make all the difference. It shapes your team’s performance and longevity in the organization.

In this episode of HR Unplugged, host Vanessa Brulotte talks with Clint Pulver, speaker, author, and President of The Center for Retention, to explore the deep connection between mentorship and employee performance. Clint shares insights from his groundbreaking undercover research across 400+ organizations and 11,000 employee interviews, revealing what makes people say “I love it here”—and mean it.

Key takeaways:

• What employees want from their leaders
• Why emotional safety drives performance
• A practical approach leaders can use to check in effectively

Key topics:

(00:00) Introducing Clint Pulver

(03:28) Why mentorship matters more than management

(06:44) Lasting change is about being consistent over time 

(10:07) High performance comes when there's a connection

(15:09) Be the mentor you were lucky enough to have

(17:50) How to conduct a status interview

(23:25) Four leadership styles and their impact

(27:18) Mentorship happens through trust and choice

(33:14) Building connections in a remote environment

(35:07) A reminder for leaders: You’re doing great

Key links:

Read BambooHR’s research, “The Hostile, the Unfair, and the Toxic: Bad Boss Index 2025”:

https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/assets/ebooks/bad-boss-index.pdf

Subscribe to HR Unplugged Series: https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/podcasts/hr-unplugged/

Join HR Heroes Slack Community:

https://join.slack.com/t/hrheroesworkspace/shared_invite/zt-21ad3f1r8-dkWC2EdmyhxUAHw9cGLdQw

BambooHR Homepage: https://www.bamboohr.com/

Connect with Clint on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintpulver/ 

Read Clint’s Book, I Love It Here: How Great Leaders Create Organizations that People Never Wanted to Leave.:

https://clintpulver.com/book/

Read Great Place to Work’s blog, “How Much Leaders Care Drives Employee Performance at Best Small and Medium Workplaces”:

https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/how-much-leaders-care-drives-employee-performance-at-best-small-and-medium-workplaces