Retain, engage, and win

Imagine yourself as a top executive of a National Football League (NFL) franchise at the end of the season.

Whether you won the Super Bowl or finished last, you have important personnel issues because no matter where you finish, you are always trying to improve. Decisions must be made about which players you must retain at all costs and which ones you can afford to lose. Perhaps more importantly, there is the task of identifying skilled position performers and rising stars throughout the league that might be available.

As an industry executive, you have similar decisions. If you are truly committed to emerging from these difficult economically turbulent times poised to charge to the top, now may be the best opportunity for retaining and recruiting your way to greatness.

Build or rebuild

1. Be choosy, numbers are on your side. Broaden your selection horizons to include criteria other than experience and education. Look at things such as passion for your industry, cultural fit within your organization, and the presence of soft skills such as strong interpersonal communication, empathy and likeability.

2. Beware of the "low bid." While it may be tempting to hire an individual to reduce your payroll, doing so usually costs more in the long run. Pay your team members what their positions are worth.

3. Wait for the best talent possible. Hiring anything less than the best talent you can afford will ultimately rob your organization of possibility and profits.

4. Match candidates to the right jobs. Insist on hiring team members who are a good fit for the positions based on their unique traits, values and talents.

Balancing work and life
It's not enough to build or rebuild your team; you have to inspire them to achieve great things.

In a recent posting on ERE.net, "A Work Strategy for a Good Life: Attracting and Keeping the Best" by Kevin Wheeler, the author addressed issues of work/life balance, paying particular attention to differences between generations. "I can't think of any organization that has not had to change policies or at least address its employees on the issue of work/life balance. Perhaps it emerged because more Gen X employees moved into leadership positions and were more aware of the precariousness of employment and about how quickly corporate can swing from breakneck hiring to layoffs. But whatever the causes, the issues involved are core to whether people accept offers, stay with an organization, or decide to work for themselves."

But why should this matter only to those within Gen X? Everyone wants to know that their roles are making a difference and that they are contributing to the success of the enterprise.

Other work/life factors also play into improving the mindset of your team members. A Deloitte Consulting LLP report entitled, "Retention Strategies during Difficult Economic Conditions" states: "Many companies are implementing or expanding work force programs designed to make balancing work and family easier. These include flexible work schedules, telecommuting and compressed workweeks. While these programs don't put dollars in employees' pockets, they can go a long way toward helping employees view their company more favorably, making them less likely to leave."

Human sigma

1. Manage and motivate employees.
2. Accelerate employee development.
3. Engage customers' emotions.

Proponents of human sigma believe that "emotionally satisfied customers contribute far more to the bottom line than rationally satisfied customers. The key is to strengthen the employee-customer interaction," writes Peter Sherman in a recent isixsigma.com article, "Strengthening the Employee-customer Interaction."

To measure any company's human sigma score, Sherman referenced a book by John H. Fleming and Jim Asplund, Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter, which established a rudimentary measurement formula. The authors surveyed employees and customers with a series of 12 questions for each audience, measuring employee engagement on the one hand, and customer satisfaction on the other. Answers on a five-point scale ranged from 1 = no agreement to 5 = extreme agreement.

In my view, the addition of information technology (IT), research and development (R&D), or other technical expertise to the list of required customer service organization (CSO) qualifications is progress, but it still isn't enough. Executives must reach beyond familiar territory and into the operational excellence arena using four core principles of engagement.

1. Manage by outcomes, not behaviors. In other words, although the end remains constant, the means to achieve that end will inevitably vary between individuals.

2. Liberate, don't legislate. Dramatic increases in productivity occur when companies allow workgroups to choose their own initiatives. Anything that makes employees passive viewers instead of active participants is counterproductive.

3. Engagement is for everyone. Strive to capture the heads, hearts, and souls of employees, and instill an intrinsic desire and passion for excellence.

4. All politics are local. Companies cannot dictate employee engagement from corporate headquarters. They must manage engagement locally. To this end, the local manager is the single most important factor in local group performance.

Always engage, always retain

About the author Adam Zak is founder and president of Adam Zak Executive Search. His firm helps companies committed to long-term lean operations connect with lean executive talent.