It’s simple: make your employee’s goals your number one priority. Employee obsession boosts tenure and performance. It’s a virtuous cycle that amplifies customer obsession and results…
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If you want to make your team the most attractive place to work I believe that your most important priority must be the personal goals of your employees. Before customers and before your boss.
The funny thing is that it’s actually the most powerful way to over deliver for said customers and bosses.
It’s aligned because people who feel grateful go above and beyond to not let you down.
“I care more about my employees than I do about my customers, and I care more about my customers than I do about breathing.”
- Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia
(btw, here is an experience I had of leading a team and seeing employee obsession at work: charleskunken.com/blog/employee-obsession-unlocking-customer-obsession-and-results)
Employee Obsession - How To Do It
Find out what each person in your organization truly wants in life. It could be work-life balance, it could be climbing the ladder, or it could be that this current role is a stepping stone to something completely unrelated.
The key is being able to connect individually with your people on a 1-to-1 authentic basis so you can really get to know them. It has to be genuine. Then reverse engineer how working for you will help them achieve that goal.
Consider your org chart flipped as if you’re working for them.
Merit Still Rules
By the way, this does not mean entitlement. Your employees have to bring the talent and attitude. Merit still rules.
And your expertise and experience still have to be the rudder guiding the ship.
But you will be increasing your horsepower by focusing on the benefit this brings to your people.
And Then Communicate
Make employee obsession your culture and post about it publicly every day. It’s actually not too hard.
A simple Tweet on the way to a meeting does the trick, then copy/paste that on LinkedIn. Tell your employees where to find you online and put it in a place your employees will see it.
Posting publicly has multiple benefits. First off, it reinforces internally what you stand for. Secondly, regular personal communication to your team strengthens the connecting fabric. Social media helps you do this at scale.
Externally, it spreads the good word about working in your culture and brings value to the market by providing an uplifting and inspiring example.
Between your messaging and inevitable word of mouth generated by your employees due to your revolutionary approach, people will be clamoring to come work for you.
Encourage Employees To Post Too, if They Want
First, it amplifies the voice.
Second, encouraging your people to share their experience and knowledge helps them bring their own reputations online. It strengthens their network and relationships, which is an asset they can bring wherever they want. This is another way in which working for you adds even more value to their lives.
Organizations with the right people and the right culture never worry about what employees are going to say online.
Conclusion
The very best people are going to have options of where to work. You don’t have a monopoly on providing the only interesting business opportunity for them. Cool work is merely a check box for the people with the best talent.
You have to differentiate on culture.
The type of work you offer combined with the way people are treated and the opportunity that being on your team provides them in life will attract the very best and the only reason they’ll ever leave is when it’s simply time in life for them to move on.
And they’ll be evangelizing your team wherever they go.
-the end-
Have some thoughts? Feel free to drop a comment or hit me up: charlie@charleskunken.com