“May the odds be ever in your favor.”
In today’s hyper-competitive environment, this is not the catchphrase most leaders are experiencing. It takes more than good luck to lead today. It takes choices that focus on leading people well. The odds, or stats, are stacked against most leadership teams. In a study published by Robert Half earlier this year, 46% of professionals are currently looking for a new job. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report stated that 47% of US workers are actively seeking new employment. The same report shared that 52% were “Quiet Quitting,” or putting in the minimum effort to do their job and feel disconnected from their employer. 17% in that same report were actively disengaged or “Loud Quitting;” these employees are taking actions that can directly harm the organization.
The Gallup report asked what “Quiet quitting” employees would change about their workplace. Gallup broke out 85% of the responses: 41% said they would change the engagement and culture, 28% said pay and benefits, and 16% said well-being or work/life balance.
Choices of the leadership team are now, more than ever in the last twenty years, critical in addressing the culture foundation at many companies. I like to say it’s time to lead or get left – bottom line. How do you create a culture that puts your people first? Or, stated differently, how do you win the war on talent? I like the term war because it conjures up the thought of fighting. Fighting means it will take focus, some “moves” or processes, and discipline to be successful. HBR uses a model with four quadrants to describe how to win this war.
I like to think of this model as 1) What we have to do to win the war on talent. 2) What we need to do to win the war on talent. And 3) what we want to do to win the war on talent.
1 – Have To Do – this is table stakes. It includes but is not limited to, compensation and benefits, profit sharing, 401k, PTO, and basic technical job training. Have to do lives in the Material Offerings quadrant.
2 – Need To Do – this is where good leadership shows up. This includes all of #1 above and has but is not limited to “next-level training” or soft skills. Tuition reimbursement, including a bias toward certifications and degree programs. Seminars, webinars, and online learning in the job-based curriculum and aspirational career goals. Work/life balance shows up here, too. Need to do hits the Growth and Development quadrant and partially touches the Connection and Community quadrant.
3 – Want To Do – this is great leadership in driving a people-focused, People 1st culture. John Maxwell would call this playing between Level 3 (the production and results level of leadership) and Level 4 (the people development and reproducing more leaders level of leadership). The Want to do arena separates good companies from great companies. These want to do companies value setting clear expectations and accountability, creating feedback channels internally and externally for employees and customers, respectively, and helping their people “work harder on themselves than they do on their jobs” by allowing them to grow professionally and personally. The want to do hits all four quadrants, working holistically on the employee experience to create a top workplace environment.
It’s about your people knowing you See them, Hear them, and Care about them. Or, in emotional intelligence terms, it’s having empathy for your team. It’s also about aligning your core values as a company in leading your employees well. What is the cost of doing this in your company? The better question is, what is the cost to your customers and employees if you DON’T focus on winning this war? According to Gallup, low engagement of your employees globally costs 8.8 Trillion dollars. I’ll let you decide where it would be best for you to “pay” attention.