Trust Inspires
One of the biggest issues CEOs share with me right now is ‘how do I attract and retain high quality people in the market’.
Organisations are desperate to fill vacancies, entice their people back to the office, and are often forced to offer unprecedented monetary incentives just to stave off the marauding competitors.
This simply highlights a more fundamental problem.
The way we work isn’t working anymore. It hasn’t before the pandemic, and it certainly isn’t now. Work is often stressful, meaningless, and unlovable.
Employee engagement, resilience and trust in leadership is also at an all-time low.
Whether it’s the Board or the CEO, if the leadership at the top is poor it will permeate throughout the whole organisation, creating a workplace culture of distrust and dysfunction.
Not surprisingly, research suggests a love for the content of the work itself and a connection to the purpose, culture and values of the organisation is what keeps people engaged and performing at a higher level.
They don’t need to love everything they do but loving a little of what they do each day has a profound impact.
Forward thinking leaders understand their people are the most important stakeholders. They are the conduit that creates value to the shareholders, customers, and broader community.
When recruiting, you’re hiring human beings, not just workers.
Embracing the diversity of people and investing in a fit-for-purpose approach to their ongoing learning and growth communicates definitively to the whole organisation you care.
Being valued for their unique strengths, passions, and trusted to achieve agreed goals will help your people pinpoint the activities they love to perform and achieve at the highest level.
The foundation for greater retention and performance is ultimately trust. That’s because trust drives the ability for people to discover and do what they love most.
Empowering them to exercise autonomy also stimulates greater creativity and innovation.
Look to discard any procedures, processes and behaviours that erode trust. Instead, get close to your employees, check-in regularly, and ask what’s important to them.
Make the investment and you will reap the rewards.
Normal led us to a workplace environment that was designed to exploit and stress us out. Normal made us unhealthy.
There is no going back to ‘normal’ now.
The smartest organisations who understand redesigning how they work and lead with people at the core will become the magnets for the most resilient and productive employees.
All of this comes back to exceptional leadership.
Self-reflecting on my own career, I love solving problems and connecting like-minded people.
It’s what I’ve always done and still pursue passionately to this day. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.
Back in the early 90’s, in my first real corporate job, I was part of a team that won a multi-million dollar project based in Karratha, Western Australia, a mere 2-hour flight away from Perth.
The one condition stipulated by the client was that we needed a establish a fully functional office in Karratha within 30 days.
Asking my boss how, he just said, ‘stuffed if I know, go sort it out’, and promptly arranged a plane ticket.
Three months in the job and given the sole responsibility to make a million dollar decision. Now that’s trust…and what inspiring leadership.
Needless to say, I revelled in the challenge and got it done.
It was my best job ever and I would have walked over broken glass for my boss.
If you want to attract and retain the people who perform.
- Value and involve them at the heart of everything.
- Empower and trust them with autonomy to make decisions.
- Have clarity of vision, purpose, values, and behaviours.
- Invest time to understand what your people value most.
- Stay close to them and set regular check-ins.
- Provide challenges…cream rises to the top.
If you're a CEO looking for a transformative CFO who leads with both head and heart or a senior executive seeking to discover your 'unique potential and purpose', then we need to talk.