The Value is Greater than the Behavior

It's a mindset. You have to know somethings value rather than the behavior you expect. Let's use respect as an example. Growing up, I was taught to say "Yes sir, No sir, and Yes ma'am, No ma'am", but that was the behavior. Instead, I value respect. Meaning, I place a great importance on showing others respect. It's the intent behind the action. I've often said, "Action without intent, is merely motion." Don't be in motion.
What value is greater than the behavior for you?

Business Rules Have Changed

For centuries business have been afraid to break the rules. The rule was that customers ruled. Well, the rules have changed. If you keep employees happy, they'll keep customers happy.
The truth is, and yes, I'm going to say it...there's a "paradigm shift" happening. The looming workforce shortage requires that we take a different look at our businesses. Otherwise, it will become costly to your business.

The single greatest expense to any business are it's employees. If your turnover rate is double digit, it means your loosing a bunch of money! How do you fix it?

You must realize that as people stay longer in your organization, values and what they value shift. When you hire a new college graduate, are they really concerned about the medical benefits...I know when I was in my early 20's I felt invincible. So do they. They want the red sports car, time off for adventure and to be challenged. As the years go by, they want to marry, have kids and trade that red sports car in for a mini-van.

Tips for breaking the rules:

• Conduct "keep'em" interviews regularly
• Offer flexible/modularized benefits packages
• Create a values-based culture
• Develop Valuship - Values-based leaders
• Encourage and assist life/work balance not work/life balance

If your business neglects to make these changes:

• Your recruitment costs will increase
• Your profits will decrease
• You'll lose intellectual capital
• You'll lose customer continuity
• You'll lose profits...did I mention that?

Remember, breaking the rules doesn't have to be painful or costly. You can make them fun, rewarding and profitable.

Leaders with Values executed with Valor create value for both employees and customers.

Where do you stand?

Have you ever thought about all those friends you grew up with? Where are they now? Many of you may still live close by and see those individuals. We all knew kids that we thought just wouldn't make much of themselves, and then there were those we knew were destined for greatness. Why?

Well, I have a few toughts on the subject that directly pertain to your growth as a leader. I strongly believe that where you stand in life is greatly impacted by those you stand with. I've often told my daughter that she should choose her friends wisely, they have a large influence on you. Organizations are the same.

Have you chosen a company that you are willing to stand with? Will this company allow you to grow to your destiny? Who have you surrounded yourself with?

Retention is like a Marriage - Part III

The Marriage

Now we have the new hire on the job. You've both made a commitment. Hopefully for life. Some relationships even have pre-nuptial agreements. This might not be a bad practice for businesses. If certain expectations and criteria or performance standards are not met in a given time period, then it sets forth the guidelines for dissolution, but let's not discuss that quite yet.

If you give your employee the following:

• Support
• The opportunity to grow and learn
• Challenges
• Creative leverage
• Flexibility

Then you start to set the stage for a long lasting relationship. My parents have been married for 47 years. Their generations employees did the same, stuck it out, worked on the relationship as it evolved. It takes valor, courage to make a relationship work.

You can use some of these ideas to help along the way:
• Date night. This is the opportunity to keep those embers glowing.
• Remind each other why you joined together
• Communicate regularly, openly and respectfully. Don't say or do anything that you wouldn't want to do in front of your mother.
• Take sabbaticals from one another - do things with others. It helps you appreciate what you have. Employees can do volunteer work.

This third part of this series encapsulates my philosophy. It takes Values executed with Valor to create value to both employees and customers.

In the last part of this series, we'll discuss the divorce (exit interview and termination).

Retention is like a Marriage - Part II

The Engagement
Guess what? This means she likes me, she really likes me. And now, she's agreed to stay with me for a while. Now it's time to meet the family. You've already discussed your shared values, so now it's time to test this portion of the trust relationship.

What I'm referring to is the orientation process. You take the new hire around to meet the team. Introduce them to the key players in this family. But like most families, it's dysfunctional like any other family. Hopefully you've share this too.

Now's the time when you get to share:

Individual and organizational expectations
Performance standards
Criteria for success

This is just like when my wife and I engaged. We spoke and set forth that she would have her money, I would have my money and then we would have family money. I would pay the mortage and investments, she would buy the groceries and we'd split the utilities.
We discussed that the household chores would be shared. We even discussed the things to avoid.

Like my every weekend addition to sky-diving.
These are the same discussions you need to have with new hires. As with my marriage, this discussion...process took time. Months to be exact. So too should your orientation process. It gives you time to re-recruit them during this process. Keep stoking the fire of their heart.
In the next section, we'll discuss the marriage.

Retention is like a Marriage - Part I

There is a very close correlation between marriage and employee retention. I've been discussing this for sometime now, but thought I would write about it. I've often said that retention begins at the hiring process

Woo-Me
Often times when courting, you ask friends or friends of friends about the individual you are interested in. This is similar to sourcing and selecting candidates for your organization.

You begin asking questions - the interview process begins
You may use flowers, dinner, movies, etc. - these are your organizational interview practices.

Are you punctual?

You chat, email, text message - these are your communication processes with applicants. Are you "fronting" or being truthful?

You can see where I'm going with this. This is where you lay the foundation for the relationship. Is it love at first sight or do they grow on you?

I know that when I asked my wife for her phone number the first time, she said, I'll give it to you, but "you won't call," most guys are that way. You see, the trust factor wasn't there, so I (as the employer) had to prove my trustworthiness. When we parted that first evening, I knew she had a long drive home, so I immediately went to a pay phone (you can tell this was some time back) and called, left a voice mail for her stating I would call the next day at 2pm.

What did I do, Sunday, the next day? I called at 2pm, sharp.

How are you convincing prospective applicants that you are different, that you have something special to offer that is worth a lifetime?