Five Keys to Keeping Your People
Swag and other treats are fun, but your employees really need a
road map of how they're going to thrive within your organization.
BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@TULLMAN
If you think that the post-pandemic staffing battle will be over
once you get a fair number of your younger employees back in the office,
you’ve got a very rude awakening heading your way. Getting bodies back and
butts in seats is a good start, but only if hearts and minds follow. This
is not to say that I’m suggesting anything as aggressive or invasive as
Teddy Roosevelt’s testicular, grab-them-by-the-family-jewels, approach.
I’m just suggesting that there’s a great deal of work still to be done
before your business will really be back in business.
This isn’t going to be that big a deal for your older returnees,
but newer employees, especially the ones who’ve never previously spent
much time in the office, are going to require an entirely new approach and a
lot of handholding. I’m not talking about begging or bribing anyone. And it’s still going to be very important to make clear
exactly what your expectations and requirements are. If someone’s not going to fit in or isn’t willing to
do the work, there’s no better time than now to discover that and part
ways before they can infect others with their attitudes or malaise.
If you ignore all the New York Times fantasy
articles about what Gen Z wants and
needs in the way of make-believe jobs and other inducements to come to
work and you actually spend some time talking to your own people,
you’ll discover that the serious and realistic ones -- the ones who are
worth keeping and investing in -- don’t actually think that they’ve got
the world on a string. Or that they’ve already got everything figured out.
They have a real sense that the ground is shifting under their feet and that
things are changing all around them. They’re about as far from certain
about their lives, their aspirations, and their futures as anyone with
even a modest semblance of information and intelligence could be.
To reach, recruit, and retain these people, you’re going to have
to have a concrete plan and a lot more going for you than simply perks,
pep talks, and a lot of empty promises. They might be young, but they’re
not stupid. You need to understand where their heads are and what’s really
important to them at this crucial and challenging time in their lives. It
turns out that, while they’re intellectually concerned with climate
change, clean air, and culture, they’re viscerally frightened and confused
about what the future holds for them personally and why they have so
little idea, information, or direction about what’s coming down the pipe.
It’s not really that hard to see why this is so.
You can start with their fundamental belief that many of the
promises their parents (and employers) made to them won’t be fulfilled
and, worse yet, that they’ll never be able to offer the same assurances to
their kids. Upward social and economic mobility? Forget it. A great college
education? Not affordable and not happening. Stepping into Dad’s shoes in the
family business? Not as easy as you’d think. An assured, healthy, and secure eventual retirement?
Ask the MAGA morons and their sycophantic spokespeople in Congress about
their plans to kill Social Security and raising drug prices.
Add to the equation the fact that we’re dealing with two
digitally native generations raised with their eyes glued to screens and
the sad reality that, for the last two decades, the entertainment industry
honchos have made the anti-hero their main man. Likewise, their miserable
artistic mission is to show the darkest underside possible and demonize
every business professional, professional politician, put-upon policeman,
or educator as well as just about every doctor, dentist, chemist or lawyer.
Who really wants to call Saul or be Walter White?
Why would kids aspire to be the next anything except maybe a
jock who’s not already crippled or a rock star who isn’t drug addled. As
to tech entrepreneurs, among Uber, Theranos and WeWork and lately the
crypto crooks, there’s not much to be proud of. We’ve taught our kids that heroes and
high hopes are largely hopeless and that even the deities of old
will eventually disappoint you. Trump, of course, personally killed the
last vestiges of trust, integrity, or honor for the whole country.
Climbing the slippery corporate ladder doesn’t sound any better.
Telling them -- after a few years of hard and thankless work -- that they
can look forward to being the second assistant junior vice president of
the receivables department isn’t much of an incentive or likely to light a fire
in anyone’s eyes. So, what exactly can you do for your newbies to give them a
helping hand and some meaningful support and direction? Swag for sure isn’t the solution. Snacks, softball games and spa services aren’t going to be
game changers.
The truth is that what these kids need is some stability,
consistency, and some sense of security in a world gone crazy and wildly
unpredictable. They need a plan. And your business needs a plan for them
because no one can really lead other people except by showing them a
realistic and achievable future and a clear and concrete path to get
there. You’ll be doing them a solid and yourself a big favor.
There are five critical steps to the process.
First, plan and document a path for each team member. Here’s
where you are, here’s where you’re headed, here are the skills you’ll need to
be successful along the way, and here’s how long the process will take.
Then include a summary of the end of the path: position
description, responsibilities and title, and compensation.
Second, share with them regularly the vision for the business’s
future, what that will represent, why it’s a worthwhile undertaking and
likely to make important differences in their lives and those of many
others as well, and how their own efforts and contributions will be an
important part of making it real.
Third, give them the tools, training, and other resources that
they will need to be successful. Make it clear that they need to commit the
time,
attention, and energy that it will take to accomplish these things. If they’re not
willing to invest in their futures, why would you, the company, or anyone else
do so?
Fourth, actively and demonstrably monitor their progress on a
regular basis, provide constructive and critical feedback, and let them
know where to go for help and mentoring along the way. It’s important that
the program be a company-wide commitment with participation at all levels
of management. A little regular recognition and reinforcement go a long
way.
Fifth, honor the efforts of the ones who are doing the work and
making progress by booting the backsliders and the ones who are just
phoning things in. In the venture world, we say that lemons ripen early
and that no one is ever been fired too soon. The process and the ultimate
outcomes are too important to accept mediocre performance and the
affirming message that thoughtful, prompt, and careful pruning of the
pride will send to the best performers is crucial.
Bottom line: if they don’t believe, you can bet they’ll leave.
OCT
4, 2022
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own,
not those of Inc.com.