With employee turnover accounting for around $1 trillion in costs for American businesses, hiring and retaining superstar employees in any business is an essential process that leaders should take seriously.
Hiring the right people to work for any organization or department saves resources and helps leaders reach goals.
But the Great Resignation created ripples among many companies, presenting leaders with a critical dilemma: how do we transform our organization to earn the trust of the people we want for our business?
In Episode 12 of the Best Places To Lead, Matt Foxhall, Managing Partner of 49 Financial, a high-growth, Great Places to Work company, joined me to demonstrate how hiring and culture can transform an organization. He brilliantly shows how he elevated his division from dead last in the company to the fourth highest-performing. Matt is an awesome leader, and I loved his energy in this episode. Here are the top 3 lessons from our discussion:
- Clarity of vision and values comes first. It attracts the right people.
- Looking beyond competence helps leaders zoom in on unique, amazing talent.
- When values are clear, decisions are easy. It transforms a company and attracts the right people.
Lesson 1: Clarity in your organization’s vision and values comes first
Only with clarity of the company’s vision and values can leaders begin to work on aligning the organization’s actions, such as inviting aligned people into the business and instilling compelling values.
Clear, compelling vision and values are a “magnet to talent” that attracts people to join the pursuit of the company’s mission.
Leaders with clarity of their vision and values are more resilient against challenges. It helps them use experiences as strength to overcome obstacles and inspires them to treat impediments as a way to advance.
Lesson 2: Look beyond competence
Leaders must cast their vision and values to convey a message recognizing people’s unique abilities, so organizations can place them where they will grow and succeed.
This chance to excel with distinct abilities helps drives organizations to excellence because being different:
- Provides leaders energy
- Gives other people energy
- Keeps the company primed for continued improvement
Looking beyond competence helps leaders and organizations retain unique and diverse people for the business they are trying to build and the direction they’re tracking.
Lesson 3: When values are clear, decisions are easy
Hiring and keeping the right people is not an entirely scientific process. It’s also an art.
When leaders invite people to a company or assess employees’ performances, it becomes easier to identify who’s aligned with that vision, with a company’s values as the barometer.
When leaders cast a compelling, clear vision and values are clear about how to achieve goals, decisions will be more straightforward:
- Identify who to bring into the organization
- Celebrate behaviors aligned with company values
- Call out those who are not aligned
When values are clear, it’s easier to find the right people and accept that the organization’s mission isn’t for everybody.
The Bottom Line
Transforming an organization during a revolutionary shift in consciousness and values among people is crucial for leaders.
Aligning hiring and culture with the company’s vision and values helps attract the superstars necessary for continued success.
You can catch the whole episode on Hiring and Culture on YouTube or the Podcast on Best Places to Lead.
About Best Places to Lead
Your company has the potential to be great. The leader’s responsibility is to unlock that potential – or doom it to mediocrity.
On the LIVE Best Places to Lead show, you’ll learn the hard-fought lessons from the front lines earned by business leaders who have already had their teeth bashed in and lived to tell about it. We’ll share the tips, tricks, mindsets, and frameworks that allow great leaders to lead differently. Register to attend the live show, ask questions, and level up. It’s every Thursday starting at 3:30 pm ET.
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