It’s not really surprising that global engagement levels are at an all-time low costing companies 7.8 trillion dollars annually.
We live in a business environment that is surrounded by change, disruption, and adversity which makes it easy to forget that a championship-level culture is a collection of individuals.
If we want to lead engaged people it starts with creating deep and meaningful human connections. This human connection is a powerful way to attract, engage and retain top talent. PwC research shows that highly engaged employees are 87 percent less likely to leave their roles.
Earlier this year I facilitated a workshop with a senior leadership team as part of their off-site. In our discovery call, I asked them what their value prop was for recruiting. Their CEO responded, “we’re growing fast, we’re being aggressive and we have a strong private equity backing.”
I followed up by asking them “Well, that’s great for someone in the C-suite who might get equity. But, why does that matter to someone on a personal level?”
People are always asking themselves “what’s in it for me?”
Your most compelling value prop might not be the actual work, compensation, or benefits. Your most compelling value prop to attract, engage and retain talent might be making and delivering upon this promise:
“I can promise you that if you come work here you’re going to have a leader that is going to sit down with you and figure out what your hopes, dreams, and aspirations are — both personally and professionally. We’re then going to use your role at this company to make those come to life.”
The Great Resignation and exit of the job market didn’t happen solely due to a lack of compensation and benefits. It happened because of deep-rooted, human-centric challenges where people felt unseen, unheard and unvalued. These challenges are still present and can’t be solved simply with a pay increase. It’s been said over and over again that people don’t leave companies. They leave managers. They leave managers who lack empathy, and compassion, and are not invested in the totality of their people’s lives. Herein lies the opportunity. Become a leader who deploys empathy, and compassion and invests in your people’s lives and you’ll create a high-performing culture that engages, retains and attracts top talent.
”“You have an impeccable ability to tell a story, and get people emotionally invested in that story. Even though many of the stories are of elite athletes the lessons are relatable, practical and transcend industries to drive high-performance cultures.”
Candice WinterDirector of Talent Acquisition, Nexient
