Inspiring, reminding and engaging your current team with the change in vision and mission is vital to the success of your company.
Talent acquisition is the driving force behind any growing small business. Finding the right talent has been difficult over the past few years. For many small businesses, superstars are becoming harder to find, even harder to hire, and extremely difficult to retain.
Many simply blame it on the younger generation, who do not recognize the opportunities to earn through hard work, perseverance and learning. It is a fatal flaw that must be avoided at all costs.
Have you ever had a similar experience?
Hiring and retaining top talent is driven by a variety of business problems. Here are some of my favorites and accompanying (and complimentary) suggestions:
Make sure your recruitment pitch is based on a solid and authentic storyline of your company's vision to contribute to society in a bigger picture. The new generation of talent is looking to contribute beyond salary and promotion promises. Rethink your company's vision. Visions change with the times. Revise your vision as your company grows. A blurred vision will not attract the best talent.
Coaching Tips: Test your revised vision message with younger employees. Get feedback. Does the vision capture their attention? Keep doing this until it inspires, motivates and engages.
How do you know if your new vision is working? First, look at how many people apply for your open positions based on what's in the job ad. Second, the interview process will say a lot based on your communication, body language, and the homework you've done to find out about the company.
Coaching Tips: Listen carefully and actively (throughout the message) to the question about the company's mission and how it contributes to the “greater good” of society. What's your answer? “We save lives, protect innocent people, and enable them to chase their dreams!”
The next part is a bit tricky, but with practice it can be done. They need to explain what their “mission” is in the new role. Most companies provide a long and overly complicated list of duties and tasks for the position. Yawn!
Don't sound like you're pitching a script for a movie role. Paint a large picture, such as the side of a building mural, that sparks the imagination. It may sound a bit pretentious, but a mural can be inspiring.
Coaching Tips: Treat this mission like a Marine. Marines need to know the mission's objective, why it's important, when it needs to be completed, and the commander's “intent.” Marines are trained and motivated to do the “how.” Don't get in their way.
Your vision and mission commitment doesn't end with attracting new talent. It starts with your talent. Inspiring, reminding and engaging your current team with the change in vision and mission is critical to your company's success. Why? Your current employees are the embodiment of your vision and mission. If your company culture doesn't align with your job offer, you won't be able to fool new hires.
Coaching Tips: Invite your executives to offer their honest opinions, criticisms, and suggestions and get them fully involved in your new vision and mission. Through team meetings, ask how each department supports the vision. You will be amazed when you apply your intelligence to payroll.
Finally, the purpose of a proactive exit interview is to gain valuable insight into whether your vision and mission are being productively promoted by your manager or supervisor. Remember, people don't generally leave companies, they leave their managers. It is also important to conduct exit interviews with departing employees. We recommend doing this 6 months before the departure. It will give you valuable insight.
Coaching Tips: We conduct exit interviews for our clients, digging deep into emotions to find out the root causes, and the feedback is enlightening for the owners. Conducting exit interviews in a disciplined way can go a long way in helping recruit new talent.
Make an extra effort to conduct exit interviews with all departing employees. While circumstances and emotions may bias your decision, there are sensible points to consider. The validity and credibility of your stated company culture depends on it.
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