Priority is People over Profits
A lesson from the greatest.
In today's market, with 4.2 million people quitting their jobs in August and 4.3 million in September, our greatest asset needs to become our greatest priority. That asset is our people. With November expected to be much of the same, they are now calling it "The Great Resignation." Unfortunately, we are so hyper-focused on what the market is doing today, tomorrow, and the future that, in many cases, we are letting our most important strategic assets walk right out the front door.
Exit interviews tell us that retaining your best involves training, coaching, mentoring, compensation, and advancement opportunities. Our people need to feel valued and part of the big picture. Unfortunately, this is the second survey I've seen in as many months that shows top CEOs placing the workforce in the middle of their priority list. It looks like they are missing it because their number one priority can not happen without first solidifying their fifth priority. If it sounds like they have it backwards, in this survey, they do.
The best example I can offer is Nick Saban, the University of Alabama's football coach. Nick is arguably the most successful college football coach of all time. As an LSU alumn, that is hard to stomach, but it is undoubtedly true. All kidding aside, Coach Saban’s answer is always the same when asked how he can stay consistent at such a high level for so long. He says winning is not his top priority and is only a byproduct of his main focus: his people, the process, and their performance. If you want to win, you can't focus on winning. Instead, you have to focus on getting your people bought into the program that rewards them and elevates them for their hard work and dedication. For Nick's program, that is the promise of becoming an NFL draft prospect. In business, the reward is recognition, compensation, and advancement. In other words, the culture.
The economic landscape today is uncertain. Looking at fiscal policy and its impact on inflation tells us that alone. Add in the lingering pandemic and supply chain issues across the globe, and you have to be on your toes and alert at all times. That can't be done alone, and if this survey is the accurate picture of what concerns leaders the most, this has to change to compete and win. Otherwise, all that will be managed is a "turnover hangover" at the expense of growing the business. Nick would tell you he couldn't win if half his team left in the transfer portal mid-year every year.
An article from the World Economic Outlook ranked the top CEO challenges in today's market: talent acquisition and retention, survival and expansion, funding and access to capital, non-supportive policy environment, the difficulty of maintaining a strong culture, and clear company purpose and value. So again, there is a theme here. People, culture, and purpose lead to retention.
The message is clear. For any strategy creation, we have to think beyond products and services. We must have broader conversations around people, processes, training, competitive compensation, and advancement. Only then will investments in best-in-class solutions and technologies get us to our growth goals. Coach Saban would tell you, regardless of having a state-of-the-art locker room, campus, or stadium you can’t consistently create a championship team without your players buying into the program. It's just not possible.