Forty-nine years ago, the Beatles released a new song titled “Come Together,” written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Following the release, John told an interviewer the lyrics were simply “gobbledygook.” This crazy mash-up of odd lyrics is at times incoherent, peculiar and, of course, genius.
The genius of the Beatles has been attributed to many things. Some credit their individual talent, perfect timing and even the guidance of a world-class manager in George Martin. Their skyrocketing success can also be attributed to a team commitment, beautiful collaboration and good old-fashioned hard work.
Most people don’t know much about the story of the Beatles prior to 1964 when they arrived in the United States. In the early 1960s, the lads from Liverpool were invited to be the house band at a club in Germany. They stayed in Hamburg for months on end. During this time, they would perform as many as seven days a week. Not only that, they would play eight-hour sets. Day after day, night after night, week after week, they would “Come Together.”
It is estimated that by the time McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr came to America, they had played live together more than 1,200 times. It can be argued that no other bands before or since have put in this amount of work. The Beatles became extraordinary through their willingness to improve and believe in something better.
History often repeats itself and similarities to 1969 are with us today. As the Beatles rode their song “Come Together” to the top of the U.S. Billboard charts, the unemployment in America dipped below 4 percent nationally. Nearly five decades later, we see our current unemployment rates matching the rates of 1969. Our challenge is to combat the issues created by prolonged shortages in qualified staffing. Companies are faced with high turnover and low engagement while grasping for methods to attract and retain talent. The workplace feels like gobbledygook. To prevail, we must believe in something better. We must lead the charge to come together.
Consider the following three ideas as you strive to galvanize your team, increase loyalty in employment and catch your employees doing something right. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Culture is King
“Employees quit bosses, not companies.”
While there may be truth in this sentiment, today’s employees are attracted and retained through cultural power. Creating and enhancing culture is quickly becoming a defining attribute for companies as millennials and others are seek a cultural match in their employer. Jay Wilkinson, founder and CEO of Firespring, has shared his advice in creating a purpose-driven business model. His concepts include:
1. Be transparent in everything, including sharing company financials and leadership training with all employees.
2. Hire for culture first. Use questions and processes to detect and avoid the haters and the trolls. When hiring, think culture first, then skills fit.
3. Openly invite your people to live the culture where they will be by your side on the journey. Detect and remove those employees (even the high performers) who fail to live the values.
We must lead and show the way. Reach out to each person and motivate them to excellence. Moving your culture forward through small steps will be noticed. Employees know when they are part of something special. One person can make a difference.
Social Impact
As the American workplace evolves, it is becoming increasingly clear that employees expect employers to go beyond simple financial and health benefits. Employees seek alignment with personal goals, including a commitment to social responsibility.
Corporate citizenship is being prioritized by companies that have come to understand the vital role of social impact in attracting and retaining talent. Social impact is proving to be financially sound for companies, the community and the world.
Companies small and large are making significant social impact. Three local examples illustrate the shift. Rust Automation, a company of just 45 employees has created year-round support of social initiatives from serving meals at the Ronald McDonald House and the Road Home to annual food and donation drives where 100 percent of employees participate.
Qualtrics has started a grassroots funding source to eradicate cancer in a program called “Five for the Fight.” When presented with the opportunity to support the Utah Jazz, they did so with an expensive logo on the uniform, a logo devoid of the Qualtrics name. Finally, Academy Mortgage focuses on the individual nature of social impact in their “One Thing” campaign, a personalized approach allowing thousands of employees to donate time through their volunteer time-off policy, whereby each employee can accrue and then use paid voluntary time to give back locally or globally. For instance, their team has developed ongoing relationships with a small village in Ecuador where they have built a technical school. Employees traveling to Ecuador have done so on their own dime.
Business impact is social impact. No business is too small to make a difference. The only mistake you can make on the road to positive social impact is the failure to act.
Making Lemonade
Your exit interview process is hurting your business.
It is likely that your HR group has created a laborious process to survey each exiting employee. Scheduled interviews, questionnaires and documented responses are the norm. Documents are then filed away and typically forgotten. The process can be clinical and impersonal.
When faced with probing exit questions, employees are left to wonder why these questions were not asked during employment? Are we showing care too late? Even when executed flawlessly, the interview can result in wasted time, providing unreliable and often useless information.
Consider this alternative: The One-Question Exit Survey” can be implemented in one week and the process takes just minutes.
Step One, ask this question: “Which current employee had the biggest positive impact on you while you were employed with us?” Employees may hesitate to limit the answer to one name, but rules are rules — they must choose one person, an active employee.
Step Two: Once you have the name, dig for the details. Find out what was done to create the positive impact. Listen, take notes and clarify the details. How did they make you feel? What did they do to help you? What hurdles did they help you navigate? Record the details, express gratitude for their service and wish them well.
The next step is easy. Wait! Wait for the employee to complete their notice period. Once the exiting employee has resigned, visit directly with the named employee.
The final step: Let the fun begin. Share in detail the positive comments from the person who left, share their glowing praise. State boldly that they had the most significant positive impact on the departed employee. Personal stories of support will resonate and turn the negative employee departure into a positive, lasting event.
The one-question exit interview is a wonderful morale-builder, allowing you to be the bearer of good news. Make someone’s day while reinforcing their value to the company. Through this simple process, we can all make lemonade out of lemons.
“He say, one and one and one is three.” In three simple and small steps, you can move the needle. You can:
• Change your culture by believing in something better.
• Change the world and your employee view by making positive social impact.
• Change the hearts of your employees using the one-question exit survey designed to recognize the hidden contributions of your employees.
With your commitment, we can “Come Together, right now, over me.”
Joe Tate is a human resources consultant for GBS Benefits in Salt Lake City.