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.

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 grab-them-by-family-valuables, 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 hand-holding. 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 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 types, 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 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.