Organizations will only succeed in engaging employees and shifting culture, if they implement the core, fundamental practices that genuinely do this.
Which is 𝙣𝙤𝙩 any of the following: ❌ Free lunches and gourmet coffee provided on-site ❌ Weekly meal deliveries to everyone working from home ❌ Subsidized gym memberships ❌ Bring-your-pet-to-work days 𝙊𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙚-𝙩𝙤-𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙛𝙮 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. Critically, it will not succeed, if it is viewed as any of the following: 💠 An HR initiative 💠 A communications department project 💠 A Culture Committee assignment Yes, HR’s and the Communications department’s involvement, if there is one, are important. (There is no need for a Culture Committee). 𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡, 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩-𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢, 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. As opposed to a shift in thinking and being, essentially a new way of doing business, going forward. ✅ Which involves the CEO’s complete buy-in and deep involvement. Otherwise, it will fail, and there is just no point in beginning. Because employees will listen to the CEO when he or she says things are changing. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙀𝙊 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙃𝙍 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. Since change means certain employees will not stay: Some will decide for themselves, and others will need to be told. Because the shift means a new organization, with different requirements and expectations. Therefore, to fundamentally shift an organization’s way of being, the CEO cannot only be peripherally involved. Instead, they must play an on-going, front and center role, or nothing will change at the core, where it needs to.
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It may be.
But it very probably isn’t. At least not without considering some additional factors. During a recent conversation, a CEO proudly told me that they are doing much better than their competition, when it comes to turnover. People stay long-term, and very few have left, even in today’s labor market. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙈𝙘𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙤. 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩, 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 40% 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 6,000 𝙐𝙎 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙟𝙤𝙗𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 3-𝙩𝙤-6 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨. Upon further discussion, it emerged that this organization’s turnover is indeed very low. But its financial performance is worse than its competitors’ and declining as time passes. ✅ Because the truth is that a focus on this one number, without considering other factors, is an all too frequent problem. For example, part of the issue is that there is no automatic, magic number when it comes to turnover. 𝘽𝙪𝙩, 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙥, 10% 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙮, 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩. Lending credence to the fact that there is absolute truth in the old cliché that “some turnover is good.” 💠 Since fresh talent brings new ideas not yet considered, and sees old problems not yet noticed. Therefore, whatever any particular industry’s number, low or no turnover potentially points to some problems. Often indicating a stagnant organization, with disengaged employees, who are coasting. And managers who are not holding their employees accountable, with recruiting mistakes that are not being remedied. 📌 Since no-one is perfect at hiring, and slip-ups happen, meaning the wrong person is occasionally hired. Most of the turnover here is likely 𝒅𝒚𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍, where top performers leave, and low performers stay. 𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 “𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧”, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙣-𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚. And let them go, if necessary, while retaining those who are effective. So, 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 turnover, where low performers leave, and top performers stay. Therefore, businesses focused on this one number with no additional considerations, do themselves a disservice. And should not aim for the lowest turnover number possible, then think that this alone indicates strong performance. Instead, ensure leaders are trained to effectively manage and engage their teams, know their industry’s turnover rate, and embrace the idea that some turnover is healthy. This is not actually the case!
And it never has been, although it was once a more widespread belief. 𝙔𝙚𝙩, 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚. Yes, salary is one slice of the employee engagement pie. 🚩 An important piece, but not the most crucial, by any stretch of the imagination. And any organization still operating under this belief, will soon realize how untrue it is, if it hasn’t already. Without a doubt, a good salary is a must. Since employees want to know that they are at least being paid fairly to market. And, before candidates will seriously discuss an open role at an organization, the salary must be right. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. And even though it may be widely cited as a top reason that employees leave, this is not the case. Because, in truth, it is an easy reason for departing employees to give, not wanting to burn a bridge. Instead, it is critical to implement a set of core practices that are known to engage employees. In addition to the following, all of which come down to leaders and managers: 💠 Kind and caring leaders 💠 Feeling valued and respected 💠 Meaningful work 💠 Autonomy In fact, the manager role is the single most important in an organization, when it comes to engaged employees. But unless they have been trained on how to engage employees, they will not know how to ensure this happens. 𝙄𝙛 𝙣𝙤𝙩, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. Because the days of offering a solid paycheck, and not much else, are long gone. And if employees don't feel valued and appreciated, they will be disengaged and will leave. Regardless of how much they are paid. Most organizations know the importance of values.
They often have nice, fancy posters hanging on conference room walls, espousing them. Maybe even listing them, with an inspiring piece about their importance in the employee handbook. And that's about it. They don’t go any farther in embedding them in the culture, perhaps because they don’t know how. Or maybe they think that putting them on a wall, or in a handbook, will magically bring them to life. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩. Because having values woven into every area of the organization such as onboarding, training, feedback, recognition, performance evaluations, meetings, decision-making and general day-to-day communication, is critical. Even worse, is how frequently there is a mismatch between the stated values and the reality. For example: ✅ Accountability: No-one is ever held accountable, and everyone knows it. ✅ Professional Honesty: If people are honest with one another, someone is punished for it. ✅ Transparency: No-one ever knows what is going on, and news travels almost exclusively through the grapevine. The truth is that companies that don’t weave their values into everything they do, or that don’t follow what they say they believe, would have been better off not having developed values to begin with. Even though that is obviously not a good idea, and sends its own troublesome message, not to mention the lost opportunity. 💠 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 75.5% 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨. But, arguably, at least there is a degree of honesty, by not pretending to be something it is not, by espousing a set of values that are simply not true. Leaving employees feeling as though they cannot trust what leaders say, eventually becoming resentful and indifferent, the antithesis of engagement. Yet engaged employees stay longer, are absent less, are more productive, and provide better customer service. In addition, they become an organization’s brand ambassadors, where great candidates want to come and work. A recent study by ExpressVPN has proven that a shockingly high number of employers do not trust their employees.
To the tune of 78%. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨: 💠 Capturing keystrokes. 💠 Counting emails sent. 💠 Logging visited websites. 💠 Regularly taking screen shots. A technological step-up from having employees provide constant status updates. Or asking employees to stay logged-into a video call all day while working from home. Potentially under the pretense of needing the employee available to answer questions. But often blatantly stating that it is to monitor people to ensure they’re working. Make no mistake – thinking that surveillance of any kind improves quality and productivity actually does the very opposite. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨: 📌 Trust and autonomy. It is not 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 a good practice, particularly at a time when employee turnover is rampant. It also clearly indicates leaders that do not know how to manage their people. And organizations that have not trained those leaders. ✅ Because neither face time nor surveillance is required to know whether an employee is performing or not. Instead, if the focus is on results, managers will be able to measure performance. Whether the employee is sitting 20 feet- or 1,000 miles away. It is no surprise that remote workers generally report better balance and higher productivity, if they are trusted to do their work, and not expected to be available at all hours. The opposite is true of those being surveilled, in whatever fashion. And employers that continue the practice, will continue to lose employees. |
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