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Winning the War On Talent...

Are you losing the war on talent? Maybe your organisation is getting it wrong at the frontline?

The war on talent has been and still is a major issue. Most organisations are finding it hard to hire and retain the right staff. Yes, the labour market is tight, but simply paying more to win talent is not enough to attract and retain good people. It’s time to think beyond remuneration and benefits to attract and retain good people.

Employee Expectations have changed!

Fair and competitive remuneration and benefits are the baseline. It's the other intangibles that are the deal breakers!

Employees expectations have changed, they are very discerning about what they want in a role. It’s not just about competitive pay and flexible working, today those are baseline expectations.

I spent 2 days last week at the Customer Show in Melbourne and attended 5 sessions on Employee Experience. There were 2 clear themes that came through in all sessions which were also a big part of the conversation during each of the Q&As that followed.

The first: More than ever, and particularly with the younger GenZ workforce, there is a real need for alignment of purpose. Employees are wanting to feel part of something. Your organisation’s purpose and values must match theirs both directionally and in the day to day work they are completing.

The second is connection. The need for feeing connected to others in the organisation is strong. This has become a real challenge with hybrid and remote working, its more than likely exacerbating the need. It’s a challenge that needs to be met.

Organisations globally are doing their utmost to meet these challenges. Every People & Culture professional I talk to can talk effusively about the initiatives that are being rolled out to their people. Including a variety of connection initiatives to bring together organisational levels and departments, Engagement Surveys, Townhalls, investment in technology-based customer and employee engagement solutions, and the gamification of training.

With all these initiatives much of the extra effort is falling on team leaders and their managers. What’s more the effectiveness is diminished if these leaders aren’t equipped to see it through.

What I found most intriguing is no organisation I spoke to is investing in developing frontline leadership capability to support these greater demands. Every People & Culture representative I spoke to said, “no we haven’t, they’ve pretty much had to learn as we go… but it’s something we know we should do…”

Frontline Managers directly Supervise around 80% of the total workforce. They make up around 60% of a company’s management ranks. Yet most organisations invest very little in developing frontline leadership capability.

This is not a new theme, but what we do know is those organisations that do invest in frontline leadership capability get stellar results.

Fred Hassan is a managing director at the private equity firm Warburg Pincus and previously served as CEO of Schering-Plough, Pharmacia, and Pharmacia & Upjohn. A major part of Fred Hassan’s turnrounds at Pharmacia (Pfizer) and Schering-Plough involved mobilising frontline leadership.

Hassan recognised the need for Frontline Mangers to understand the organisation’s strategy:

“Frontline leaders oversee the execution of the company’s strategy, because they are at the ‘coal face’ they are also one of the most important cogs in the feedback loop.”

“The hardest thing about strategy is the execution. How well frontline managers understand the company’s strategy and their own specific role in it will in large part determine whether that strategy is successful.” Fred Hassan - HBR The Frontline Advantage 2011

He also knew the importance of Emotional Intelligence:

“When they are engaged and energized, they communicate that to employees. The result is a charged-up and aligned organization.”

Plus, he recognised the need for frontline managers to fully understand business process and the customer journey “Frontline managers have their fingers on the pulse of operations and of the marketplace.”

If you reflect on Fred Hassan’s words and remember that Frontline managers represent ~60% of your manager ranks, and they directly supervise around 80% of your workforce. It makes sense to invest more in developing the skills and capability of this incredibly important group of people in your organisation. 

Why?

Town Halls, Engagement Sessions, Monthly 1:1’s etc are only point in time activities. Culture, Connection and Purpose are full time requirements. Frontline leaders have the most contact most often with the most people. How they perform as leaders is intrinsic your culture, developing connection and creating and maintaining the alignment to purpose.

Allowing leaders to develop this capability by chance has always been a problem and is now an even greater problem. Employees no longer accept an employer that fails to meet their needs. Meeting these needs on a daily basis is the role of the frontline leader. Unfortunately, the majority of frontline leaders have not been adequately prepared for this role.

When I was a frontline leader; like most I accepted the responsibility; like most I received little or no training; like most I made mistakes and now; like most of you reading this I’m still learning new and better ways to lead people every day.

Learning and developing leadership capability can be accelerated. It takes having the right training – relevant to the role AND the right ongoing coaching and mentoring.

Much of Fred Hassan’s approach to frontline leadership aligns directly with the 5 elements of Leadership Intelligence we teach as part of the iV-Leadership program.

Organisational Intelligence – understanding Strategy and Purpose
Emotional Intelligence – inspiring and engaging others
Customer Intelligence – Understanding your role in the Customer Journey
Process Intelligence – understanding how your processes meet the customers needs
Management Intelligence – putting it all together leading your people and managing the work.

Winning the war on talent is far more achievable when you have a great culture and leadership at the frontline. When your frontline leaders have the capability to inspire and engage their people in way that is aligned with the organisation’s strategy and purpose and the needs of their people.

Are you doing enough to develop your frontline leaders?

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Greg Bull - Founder

Greg spent the first 20 years of his career working in and leading teams and organisations building successful frontline leadership teams.

The next 15 years Greg worked in many diverse industries helping organisations improve their operating performance. The bulk of that time has been coaching leaders and teams at all levels the leadership techniques that improve performance and create a better workplace and more engaged people.

For Greg, the most satisfying aspect of his work is watching the people he coaches develop and grow their capability and fulfil their full potential.

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