Solution Saturday: Would You Love to Work for You
In preparation for an upcoming keynote in Chicago, I called several business owners who plan to attend. I like to get a feel for the audience before I speak.
After getting acquainted on the phone, I asked each one the same question. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities in your business? They had their own way of saying it, but they all described the same challenge.
10 challenges business owners face:
- Making money.
- Health insurance.
- Government regulations.
- Fatigue – managing energy – optimism.
- Managing cash flow.
- Managing people.
- Solving people problems.
- Attracting and retaining top talent.
- Customer service.
- Decision-making in turbulent or uncertain environments.
(The above list is in no particular order.)
The #1 challenge:
Whether 2017 was a great year or a mediocre year for their businesses, the top challenge the business owners face was the same. How do I get and keep good people?
More questions:
The purpose of the conversations I had with the business owners was to learn, not explore answers. So I listened and asked questions. I’ve been mulling over the challenge since.
A consultant might say, “Do these ten things to attract and retain top talent. I come at things from a coaching perspective. I might start the conversation with the following questions.
#1. What is top talent? You need a clear picture of the character and skills you’re looking to attract.
#2. Who has stayed with your business for a long time? (Assuming they are top talent as described in #1.) What factors have contributed to their longevity? How might you validate your observations? How do your observations impact the hiring process? Retention plans?
#3. Would you love to work for you?
To change anything, you must focus on things within your control.
Question #3:
“Would you love to work for you,” leads to self-reflection and focuses on things within your control.
I’ve been remembering the people I worked for. I’ve had some lousy bosses and a couple I loved working for.
The bosses I loved working for:
- Liked me. Call it shallow, but I like being around people who like me.
- Worked hard and expected me to work hard.
- Enjoyed work. I saw them frustrated, but I often saw them smile and heard them laugh.
- Brought heart to work. They cared.
- Showed respect.
- Practiced generosity. Sometimes they bought lunch.
- Gave me opportunity, if I earned it. I hated the feeling of being held back.
More:
There’s more to attracting and retaining top talent than being a great boss. The conversation includes compensation, benefits, nature of the job, and culture, for example.
Issues like autonomy, mastery, meaning, and connectedness come to mind, as well.
You might approach this challenge by asking:
- If things were going perfectly, what would it look like?
- What behaviors move you and your organization in that direction?
- What will you do next?
What are the main factors in attracting and retaining top talent?
What type of boss would you love to work for?
*I relax my 300 word limit on weekends.
Coming soon: Mark Miller’s new book, “Talent Magnet,” is released on February 27, 2018. I’ve scheduled a guest post with Mark and a book giveaway on Feb. 21. You can pre-order Mark’s book here.
Like you Dan I have worked for some lousy bosses. Looking back, I am grateful that they were lousy for it gives you an insight on what it takes to be a leader others want to follow. As you say, having a clear picture of what talent looks like for you is a start and a great question. Matching values is equally important. There’s no point having someone take shortcuts if one of your values is excellence. When personal values and company values are aligned, a workforce becomes unstoppable because everyone sings off the same song sheet. This is many ways becomes visionary leadership – having a clear picture of not only only where the company is headed, who you need on your team to realize the vision.
Thanks Carolyn. Your approach to lousy bosses is powerful. Too often we let a lousy boss control us. It short-circuits our careers if we stop giving our best.
Glad you added aligned values. It’s pretty hard to feel passionate about a job when the work/organization doesn’t align with our values. Great add.
Dan,
Based on today’s lifestyle, money, health insurance and job security hits home for many.
Keeping talent requires respect for them, treating them fairly, and appreciating their capabilities to handle tasks, for the type of business in. The actual retaining of workers takes many turns, I’ve seen money change people’s attitudes to sense their value and demand more, because ABC company pays more for the same job, so being prepared to negotiate when needed, having fringe benefits to keep them in board, at the same time willing to admit this is the best we have to offer and wish them well with their career if all parties can’t come to agreement.
Often times if you treat people well they will stay loyal in good times are bad, the key is making the effort to keep them, if the organization turns their back, be prepared to move on.
The type of Boss I like to work for has vision for the company, has walked the walk first, leads by example and doesn’t expect someone to do something they would not do themselves.
Thanks Tim. Compensation is always part of the equation. I recently spoke with a business owner who has seen people stay even though they could make more elsewhere. This suggests that when it comes to staying, money isn’t the only factor. But it definitely is one of them.
Dan,
As you know it’s more complex!
Do they truly love what they do? Do they feel fulfilled with their life?
Is working for them/us about survival, we all have eat!
Finding ones calling while doing something different, College education in Accounting, but wants to be a Chef for example.
Personally I may earn more money working for someone else, yet I feel loyalty to them as they needed me, when I needed them, so they helped me get to position, never know how life’s challenges will change your goals! My father taught us to ” live within our means” and you will survive, how well we do is controlled by how hard we apply ourselves along the way.
Thought provoking again. There is one word in both Carolyn and Tim’s response that ring true for me. That word is “Vision” or “Visionary”. I’m stuck on a visionary environment because it lends itself to being a progressive setting that is or may be building toward the future. I have worked and lived in settings where the focus was on the “Status Quo”. The city I live in is managed by elected officials that are status quo people in leadership positions. I have worked in and managed in both healthcare environments and community services settings. Many that I have worked it that were status neutral bored me and I need to create my own agenda for my own personal growth and then leave to find the setting that would allow and encourage me to grow. When I have been the top person, either President/CEO or State Director, I have always worked from a position of Visionary expectation of myself and my staff. the key was sharing and communicating the Visions and inviting others to participate in shaping the vision of the future.
“Would you love to work for you,” – an interesting perspective to encourage self-insight/awareness for leaders I imagine.