Most organizations measure tenure as if longer always equals better. Yet many decades of research have proven that the single best way to attract and keep the talent is to ensure their engagement. Gaining emotional connection to the organization, and an attitude of “going the extra mile” yields far greater and sustainable impact for a healthy and productive climate than “buying” someone to stay with an extra bonus, title, perk or benefit. “Carrot” style motivators are excellent short-term bandaids, and they are certainly far easier to implement - but this fix will not address employees’ emotional connection to their organizations, leaders and co-workers. In fact, bandaid solutions may even mask underlying cultural issues long enough to make transformation towards a healthier work environment even more difficult than it already is. The bottom line: efforts on short-term retention fixes won’t address root engagement issues if people don’t feel heard, paid attention to, developed, appreciated, and valued. These are not just “nice” to have, they are the drivers of agility and high performance - what we know all too well that organizations desperately need today and in the future.

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A month before the pandemic, I listened to a podcast that truly resonated with me suggesting that “soft” skills are in serious need of rebranding. Soft skills are typically defined as “the ways we interact with others, our interpersonal dynamics, and how we communicate and work together”. These skills are so often misinterpreted as “nice”, “mushy”, or “fluffy”. Now, many months into the most accelerated digital transformation of our working lives, nothing could be more clear - attention to these skills is critical to the success of this transformation. Our ability to relate to others, whether we formally manage people or as individual contributors, is a foundational set of people skills - and they are not “soft” in any way. They are the hard skills.

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Did you know that managers spend two days per week in meetings on average? That represents 15 years of our working lives. While enduring our current lockdown, it is tempting to believe our meeting pain is explained by excessive screen time. I coach several leaders each week and have been witness to some serious cases of “Zoom or Microsoft Teams fatigue”. While screen time overload certainly plays a role in current meeting fatigue, it is not the central culprit, and we need to face the monster - which exists in virtual and in-person meetings.

From my experience, here are a few questions to ask yourself to diagnose your meetings: How do you experience the problem of unproductive meetings? Do controversial topics magically slip under the rug while the subject gets changed? Is there silence when a tough question is asked? Do people pretend to agree in the meeting, only to sabotage “agreements” later that they do not agree with? Are decisions revisited without new data, just because the disagreement was not aired the first time? For “consensus” or “buy-in” to occur, must everyone agree? When a decision is made in the meeting, are barriers to implementation ignored or left undiscussed?

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I have been reading and watching, along with all of you, the way our world has been disrupted by COVID in 2020. “Nothing will ever be the same” is the refrain. Fortunately, some things will be for the better. Crisis may bring about unprecedented organizational challenges, but it can also be the catalyst for positive, powerful organizational change.

Leadership and employee engagement experts have spent several decades persuading employers to exemplify the well-known mantra: “your people are your greatest asset”, yet it takes a crisis to bring it home.

It has not been easy to adapt to the new work environment over the last couple of months, yet fast and impressive to watch the pivot. Frankly, I believe the harder task will be to maintain the characteristics of healthy leadership, engagement and culture being demonstrated in a crisis once we are in a post COVID environment.

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We recently learned that the biopharma deal-making forecast is expected to remain strong in 2020, according to JP Morgan’s annual industry kickoff.

One critical aspect of merging organizations consistently receives far less attention, yet it can be the most significant enabler of deal-making success. That aspect is culture, typically described as the shared values, beliefs and hidden behaviors that determine true reality of how tasks are accomplished.

The data is conclusive and has been around for decades; culture impacts organizational performance. John Kotter and James Heskett provided the first comprehensive study of how the culture of a corporation powerfully influences its economic performance, and it can manifest in both healthy and unhealthy ways…

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If you’re interested in outperforming your competition by retaining amazing talent, listening is critical.   Engagement data consistently aligns with this basic fact: an engaged workforce is one that feels heard.  Certainly the most well known data comes from Gallup’s global study of ten million workplace interviews.  The pioneering study identified 12 statements which best predict employee and workgroup performance. One of these 12 statements, Item 7 is “At work, my opinions seem to count”.  Gallup’s data reveal that just three in ten US workers strongly agree that at work their opinions seem to count.  However, Gallup suggests that by doubling that ratio to six in 10 employees, organizations could realize a 27% reduction in turnover, a 40% reduction in safety incidents and a 12% increase in productivity.  Surely a worthy organizational investment for 2020.

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In my previous blog entitled Stop Overlooking this Talent Pool, I urged you recognize that your internal workforce IS a true candidate pool, and made the case that without investment in learning, growth, and development, employees begin to feel that the organization is not investing in them which causes a cycle of employees looking outside for new opportunities instead of inside. As best written by my colleague and well-known career development guru, Beverly Kaye, with co-author Julie Winkle Giulioni, in their latest book Help them Grow, or Watch them Go, the first chapter is aptly titled: “Develop Me or I’m History!”. I promised to follow up with additional talent strategies in order to significantly boost the potential for your current employees to fill open jobs…

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As we begin the new year, it’s our annual moment to pause, reflect and think about how to continue becoming the person we would most like to be. What’s missing that could enhance our growth and effectiveness as a person, as an employee…and especially as a leader if you manage others? 

I’m guessing the first answers that come to mind are things like more time…more sleep…more money. Well, all true, but are for others to post and write about.

As an organizational coach for much of my career, I think of something else that’s lacking for many of us that could greatly enhance our personal and professional lives. What is often missing or insufficient is greater self-awareness.  It is not a nice-to-have, feel good thing. Without it, we are nowhere in terms of enhancing growth and effectiveness.

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If you read employment headlines, you know the importance of creating a competitive advantage with a targeted, aggressive hiring strategy - typically focused on external candidates.  I believe too many employers are overlooking one of the critical talent pools available to them: their current employees. 

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I was recently reminded of how difficult it is to “have it all” - career and family.  Last month, I was visiting my daughter and son-in-law and incredible grandchildren, and it all came rushing back as if it were yesterday.  The endless logistics of who is picking up, stress of what to do with a sick kid, how to beat the clock to arrive at daycare before it closes. 

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