You've become an "employer of choice" and made it on the list of "The Top 10 Best Places to Work in (name your city or industry)." Congratulations. It's validation, right? It means your organization must be doing most things right when it comes to the treatment of its employees. It means you're a magnate for great talent and everyone wants to work for your company, correct? So...here's a question. Why aren't you able to hire the people you really want?
"Huh?"
C'mon, I think you know what I'm talking about. You have a lot of good people working in your business and they think your company is swell. Fine. But you are trying to achieve breakthrough growth and have not been able to land the caliber of talent you know you'll need to achieve it. Am I right? If I am, here are four of the most likely reasons that's happening.
- The Future. They are not compelled by where your business is headed and the role you see for them. Top performers are looking for a unique opportunity. They want to marry their capabilities with the resources of a company and watch magic be made. They may believe you have a good product and will do "well enough" as a result. But if you haven't been able to show them where they fit in the future of the company, they won't be compelled by your story. They want to know how their talents are needed to bring the future company to reality; why they will be an integral part of what happens. (By the way, this is also true of the key producers within your company right now.)
- The Workplace. They sense the culture isn't right. You need catalysts; people who can make things happen--will make things happen. Such individuals have great confidence in their ability to do that but they need the right kind of people around them. They want to know that they (individually) and everyone else (also individually) will be working in the sweet spot of their unique abilities. They are concerned about this because they recognize it will be the combined efforts of unique teams that will fuel success. People of talent know that individual success is impossible without a culture of confidence where the right synergies can be formed, nurtured and magnified.
- The Resources. They don't believe they'll be given the tools they'll need to succeed. Quality people are ambitious by nature and are constantly seeking personal and professional growth. They know they will invest their hearts and minds in the success of the enterprise that employs them. Consequently, they want to know that as a result of the resources they'll be exposed to--people, products, capital, etc.--they will get better at what they do. Their capabilities will increase and that will help both them and the business succeed. They recognize that as their unique ability is strengthened, they are in a better position to create value for the company. Everyone wins.
- The Relationship. They sense you're looking for an employee not a business partner. How so? Uniquely talented people are looking for a uniquely constructed value proposition. They aren't looking for a compensation "package." They want something that codifies the nature of the financial partnership they will have with you. They want to know how they will participate in the value they help create. They view the company as an opportunity to accumulate wealth and feel it's a fair expectation that if they make a significant contribution to business growth, there should be pay mechanism that rewards that result. They expect there to be some kind of long-term value sharing plan that helps define this kind of financial partnership.
As you examine some those who "got away" recently, see if don't agree that one or more of the issues just described was probably the reason. It's not too late. You can still be an employer of choice and attract premier talent; they're not mutually exclusive endeavors. Just pay attention to the future, the workplace, the resources and the relationship you're offering.
To learn more about how to attract great talent, sign up today for VisionLink's upcoming webinar entitled, "How to Pay High Performers."
