Honey and Glue: Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Great People

Honey and Glue:Strategies for Recruiting

and Retaining Great PeopleBy]oeTyeCEOValues Coach Inc.

Ten years ago, demographic ex-perts were predicting that as BabyBoomers retired in the millions,

our nation would face one of the mostsevere staffing shortages in history.Books, with titles such as Meltdown2010 and Impending Crisis: Too ManyJobs, Too Few People, warned that weneeded to create organizations that ex-celled at recruiting and retaining greatpeople. As one business journal put it,the war for talent is over - and the tal-entwon.That has not happened yet mainly

because the recession of recent years,coupled with tectonic shifts in technol-ogy and globalization, has slowed jobgrowth and the rate of workers takingretirement. But it is a safe bet that theexperts got the outcome right even ifthey missed the date. There will soon betoo many jobs chasing too few people.The shortage will be most severe whenit comes to demand for the best work-ers.The ability to earn the loyalty of

talented people creates an incrediblecompetitive advantage, as documentedin the work of Frederick Reichheld(The Loyalty Effect and Loyalty Rules)and Jeff Pfeffer (The Human Equation:Building Profits by Putting People First).If you want to enhance the value ofyour company and insure your ability tocompete over the long term, attractingand retaining great people will be vitalto your success. As the aforementionedauthors point out, having loyal employ-ees is the essential ingredient for earn-ing loyal customers.When speaking of loyalty, I am not

referring to mere tenure. Tenure is rec-ognition of time served (or in the worsecase, simply of time put in). Loyalty,on the other hand, is a commitment toworking together for a shared future.

Tenure is passive. Loyalty is active. Trueloyalty entails a commitment to learn-ing and growing to meet the changingdemands of the organization, the mar-ketplace and the times.People often say "recruiting and re-

tention" as if it is all one word. But themotivational hot buttons you must hitto recruit are often very different thanthose which inspire long-term loyalty.You recruit people with tangible in-ducements, including pay and benefits,working conditions and opportunitiesfor advancement.But, research shows that it is not

enough to keep them. People stay orleave because of intangible qualities liketrust and respect, recognition and ap-preciation for their work, and a spiritof workplace fellowship. At ValuesCoach, we call this the "Honey & Glue"formula: you attract people with the"honey" of measureable compensationand benefits, but you keep them withthe "glue" of right-brain qualities thatcannot be measured, but which are feltin the culture of the workplace.

Joe Tye, CEO and head coach, ValuesCoach Inc.

Strategies for Recruiting andRetaining Great PeopleBuild on a foundation of values. Zap-

pos is a modern American success sto-ry. This online shoe and apparel retailer(recently acquired by Amazon.com) hasbeen honored as one of America's 100best companies to work for by Fortunemagazine. It has hundreds of applicantsfor every job opening. The companyhas 10 core values and expects everyemployee to know - and live - them all.These values are prominently displayedon the Zappos Web site, and are the firstthing prospective employees will see.In Impending Crisis, the late Roger

Herman shared research findings show-ing a direct relationship between acompany's commitment to core values(as reflected by the fact they had anauthentic statement of values integratedinto every aspect of operations, includ-ing interviews, new employee orienta-tion, performance appraisals, etc.) andability to retain good people.High performers on this score had

less than one-third the turnover oflowperformers. Does your company havea written statement of values and haveyou defined the attitudinal and behav-ioral expectations created by those val-ues? For example, a real commitmentto the value of integrity and respect forothers would mean that your firm hasa zero-tolerance policy for gossip andtalking about people behind their backs.Put it in writing. Auto-Owners In-

surance Company explicitly includes"loyalty" as one of its 10 core values. Ithas published a formal declaration tothe independent agents who market itsproducts, proclaiming its commitmentto that relationship. This foreclosespotentially lucrative (but competing)marketing channels via the Internet or.a direct sales force. I have met manyagents who reciprocate with a near-exclusive commitment to promotingAuto-Owners' products. What can youdo to express in writing your loyalty to

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40 TPI Turf News: MarchI April 2012

your employees and your customers?Specify actions that show your com-

mitment to loyalty. Virginia MasonMedical Center in Seattle has pioneeredimplementation of the Toyota Produc-tion System (better known as lean .process management) in the healthcaresetting. The Virginia Mason ProductionSystem (VMPS) has helped the medicalcenter improve efficiency, quality andpatient safety. But that process has beencoupled with a no-layoff policy, whichreassures employees that efficiency-en-hancing process improvement will notbe simply used as a way to eliminatejobs, and that management cares abouttheir sense of job security. List the ac-tions that you take to earn the loyalty ofyour employees and customers. Are youreally walking the loyalty talk? Whatmore can you do?Invest in people. In "How the Growth

Outliers Do It" (Harvard Business Re-view, January-February, 2012), RitaGunther McGrath looks at companiesthat have grown consistently over a longperiod of time. "They pay close atten-tion to values, culture and alignment.What does that mean in practice? Wesaw significant investments in creat-ing an appropriate corporate culture,employee training and executive devel-opment among these companies;' shewrote. In what ways are you investing in

. your people with opportunities for edu-cation, inspiration and career advance-ment?What more can you do?Give people a worthy challenge. Do

you know which organization recruitsmore of the top graduates from Amer-ica's top colleges? It is not Google, IBMor Microsoft. It is Teach for America,a non-profit organization that puts in-credibly bright young people through a

strenuous boot camp where they learnto be great teachers. It then sends themoff with a two-year commitment toteach at an inner city school.One of the great paradoxes of lead-

ership is that people tend to be mostloyal to leaders who expect a great dealfrom them. Think about your peopleand your organization. What more canyou do to let them know that you ex-pect each of them to achieve their fullpotential, both with your company andin their personal lives? What more canyour organization do to pursue a mis-sion that transcends making money?Who could and should be more com-mitted to "green" than the turf industry?Stick with people through hard

times. When Columbus Regional Hos-pital in Columbus, IN was inundatedby a flash flood in June 2008, basic ser-vices were shut down, the hospital wasclosed for five months, no revenue wascoming in, and the hospital knew its"best places to work" culture and highperforming workforce could be at risk.The executive team and board decidedto keep everyone on the payroll for fivemonths, at a cost of more than $30 mil-lion - money that had been set asidefor a new patient tower and emergencydepartment.The hospital reopened with staff in-

tact. It continues to be rated as a bestplace to work. It also has been nation-ally recognized for its Innovation Cen-ter' a facility made possible as a resultof flood-related rebuilding. Do yourpeople know that you are committedto them through good times and bad?What more can you do to strengthenand communicate that commitment?Make it fun. I love to tell the story

of an industrial ventilation system in

Lexington, KY that was once knownas HVLS Systems Ine. They make thehigh volume, low speed fans you see infactories and warehouses. They got anew marketing director who convincedthe boss that the name was boringand uninspiring, and that they shouldchange it to what their customers allcalled them. The boss finally gave inand they changed the name from HVLSSystems to Big Ass Fans. They hiredWilliam "The Refrigerator" Perry fromthe Chicago Bears to be their spokes-ass, adopted a herd of orphan donkeys,and did a whole lot more to build onthe theme. In an industry not widelyknown for whimsy, they gained hugename recognition by "being fun" asource of competitive advantage.Loyalty and the future of your com-

pany. The long-term value of yourcompany will be substantially definedby your ability (or inability) to earn theloyalty of good people. That is really theacid test of leadership, isn't it?

Joe Tye is CEO and head coach ofValues Coach Inc., Solon, IA. ValuesCoach provides training and consultingon values-based life and leadership andcultural transformation. Tye is a frequentspeaker and author of 12 books, the mostrecent being All Hands on Deck: 8 Es-sential Lessons for Building a Culture ofOwnership. For more information, visitwww.Ice'Iye.com.

.TPll~I.\!!I!I.TGIFKey Words: employees, recruiting,retainingCategory Codes: PS, BG

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