What Matters Most?
I've been writing a lot recently about employee engagement, retention and how to make your company more "sticky". I was having just this very conversation the other day with a managing partner.
def. Sticky: They (employees) want to stick around and contribute to your organization because they get some benefit(s) in doing so. Benefits such as feeling like they contribute, that they belong, that their values align with that of your company's, that they feel like your business will thrive no matter what new challenges arise, etc. The employees feel it's safe to express their views.
The costs to you and your company of not being very sticky are enormous. You can do the math. Start with turnover rates and compensation plus benefits.
Then factor in costs for lost opportunities and the disruption to your business in addition to the direct costs of attracting and retaining talent. Depending on the size of your organization in its totality, these costs can add up to millions of dollars pretty quickly. Ouch!
And What About Your Customers?
If your company fails to live up to its promises, customer engagement will precipitously fall. And you may not know it until it's too late and they aren't your customers any longer.
Customers will never love a company until its employees love it first. - Simon Sinek
That's one reason why knowing your purpose and having a clear strategic vision is so important. It literally drives everything. And these two groups - employees and customers - are intertwined.
Define What Matters Most to You and Your Organization.
What makes your organization unique and special? Articulate it. Own it. Tell your employees, your customers, the world about it.
Just make sure that you live up to that ideal. Words without capability and the actions that back them up will only lead to disaster.
Johnson & Johnson knew its purpose clearly. Robert Wood Johnson wrote the company's Credo in 1943 based on what he believed in and what mattered most. It began with:
We believe our first responsibility is to doctors, nurses, and patients; to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.
Many years later the unthinkable happened. Six people died in Chicago from ingesting Tylenol in 1982. It was discovered that bottles had been tampered with, laced with cyanide.
The crisis shook the pharmaceutical company to its core. The company's leadership team and its employees took swift action and within 6 weeks time, had replaced all the product around the country, with new and safer packaging, demonstrating a great example of corporate responsibility. The Credo, that everyone in the organization knew and understood, and the direction of the leadership team guided by it, gave them firm footing on how to respond and act. (Excerpts from The Culture Code, by Daniel Coyle).
The "Big Why".
I was leading a retreat for a client recently when we hit on the "Big Why" as I like to call it. It's the core essence of why you do what you do, i.e. Purpose.
During the retreat, I asked this question: What do you believe in? It was amazing to see the team get excited and energized. Once they tapped into what to what they believed in and why their business exists they achieved a level of clarity they'd not had before, and the strategic vision became clear as well.
If your gut tells you that you and the organization are not fully there yet - connecting to and living the "Big Why" - then I recommend you take steps to get clear about it.
I believe that doing so is as important as anything else you and your team are doing day-in and day-out to create a great company. It's why you come to work everyday. It's why your customers are your customers. It can be the glue that attracts and retains your best talent.
A Few Ideas.
Here are a few ideas that will help you to think differently about your company's ability to retain talent, improve your customer service delivery and achieve greater success.
What are the values that are most important to the organization? How do you know they exist?
Your values and culture are defined by actions. What actions can you observe that demonstrate the values you hold most precious?
Are you as the leader and your leadership team walking the talk? Conduct an honest assessment with your team.
Is there a gap? Challenge the vision statements, you know the words on the wall and on your website, and compare them to the observable actions taken day-in and day-out.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the level of trust within in the organization, the executive team, and at all levels? What would make it a 10?
Do you have a compelling and inspiring strategic vision? Does everyone in the organization understand what it is and how they fit in?
Do you conduct regular employee surveys?
Do you conduct customer surveys using Net Promoter Scores or other metrics?
Do you and your management team meet with your employees, one to one? Not a performance review, a real conversation. If the answer is no, then I recommend you make this a regular habit.
Final Thoughts
There are times when intense corporate soul-searching is necessary. And it's a good idea to periodically challenge what may be taken for granted.
Using these thought provoking and challenging ideas are just the beginning. The heavy lifting is in honestly addressing your strengths and weaknesses in an open and collaborative setting, listening to all the feedback from all your cohorts, and then creating strategies and tactics to close the gaps with buy-in among your key stakeholders first, and everyone else in the organization, as well.
Until next time!
