Becoming an employer that people are desperate to work for...

Let's break the fourth wall here.

When it comes to selling something, we're taught to appeal to the surface needs of the customer and once they are convinced we can lead them toward their deeper need. Surface needs relate to something immediate, like the need to eat, or sleep. The deeper needs however, are more intangible, and relate to people's experience of life.

In his book "Build Great Brands" - John Cinquina uses the analogy of a restaurant. The surface needs of the restaurant are "come and feed yourself at my establishment." It meets a need, and gets people in the door, but it's not the whole story. The deeper needs are something along the lines of "come and enjoy the connection of friendship, and the soulful environment that we provide as we serve you delicious food." You're meeting more than just practical needs here - you're connecting emotionally with your customers and potentially even providing them with something they didn't know that they needed.

When it comes to what I do, the surface needs are simple: I help organisations increase productivity, staff retention, and innovation by working with leaders, managers and teams to establish or sustain healthy cultures. It's a mouthful, but it works. I talk a lot about toxic teams because this is something that every organisation can identify, and is an immediate need that needs fixing.

For some organisations, helping them with this surface need is enough, and I am satisfied with having been able to work with people to build great team environments. Win-win.

But I do have a bigger vision; there is a deeper need.

I want organisations to be places where people find meaning and purpose. I want your organisation to become the kind of place that people long to work for. Can you imagine if your brand wasn't just associated with producing an outstanding product, but for cultivating incredible people? If your leaders were empowered, your teams were healthy, and everyone associated with you was part of the process of growth and innovation?

You would be renowned for all of the right reasons.

The challenge is that moving into this deeper level of development firstly requires a willingness to face the challenges head on, and to begin a process of cultural evolution. Intention is everything, and it required courage.

The practices required to achieve this deeper vision are not overly complex. At a basic level what people need are things like meaning and purpose, psychological safety, and a feeling of connectedness in their team. Bringing these things into the everyday rhythm of an organisation that has other things to accomplish can be the challenge, and that's where I come in.

I help you develop environments that create healthy people. And healthy people make your organisation thrive.

If we all recognised that this deeper vision was something worth striving for not only would we be able to do our everyday work more effectively, but we would transform into the kind of organisations that people were desperate to work for. We'd be making the world a better place, but empowering people the become the very best versions of themselves.

That's what really excites me.