Develop a Winning Culture: Become a Sought After Employer!

Chapter 4: Becoming a Sought After Employer

People who don’t work there want to work there.

“Leaders set the standard – both by how they lead and by what they do –they are the guardians of, and must be held accountable for, the culture.” ~ Charles G. Koch, CEO Koch Industries

Note: This series started with Chapter 1: The Cost of Culture.

I want to set the bar high right from the start as we begin our cultural transformation journey together. To ensure our cultural vision is aligned, let me clarify.

Becoming a sought after employer means: Great people who don’t work at your organization become aware of and are attracted to your organization, and most importantly, they have a strong desire to work there.

By great people, I mean top talent. By top talent, I mean people who not only have exceptional, well-developed competency (experience, knowledge, abilities), but also people who have exceptional, well-developed character (integrity, humility, trustworthy, responsible).

Sure, good people, and some people who aren’t so good, will be attracted as well. But, my goal is to help you develop a culture that attracts great people. When you’re attracting great people consistently, it becomes easier to say no to the good people and easy to say no to the people who aren’t so good.

Unfortunately, because many leaders of blue-collar organizations haven’t focused their energy and resources on developing a high impact culture, they and their support staff find themselves having to take anyone they can get when it’s time to fill a position. These are also the organizations that are constantly advertising they’re hiring because they can’t find good people. And when they do, they don’t stay.

If you’re struggling to find good people, then attracting good people will sound like a big win. But remember this, a team of good people can’t compete effectively with a team of great people. Although, they can easily compete with a team of mediocre people.

My intention is not to help you and your team climb to the middle of the cultural transformation mountain. I want to help you climb to the top.

The mountain will be tall, steep, and challenging at times. To get to the top, you and your team must make the same sacrifices and pay the same price all of those who have stood on the summit have paid. There are no short cuts, but you can increase your speed while traveling on the path to the top.

You get to the top with great people, not good people. Only high performance teams get the view from the top.

You and your team can’t climb to the top of the mountain with base camp character.

You must be fully aware of the challenge that lies ahead and know where you want to end up. Then, focus on conquering the moment, not the mountain. If you conquer enough moments, you will eventually conquer the mountain.

When it comes to becoming a sought after employer, culture counts. And, it counts a lot. Culture doesn’t just happen. It is created, good or bad, by the everyday choices leaders and their teams are making.

Everything I’ll share in Blue-Collar Leadership & Culture: The 5 Components for Building High Performance Teams is intended to help you help your organization become a sought after employer that attracts great people and top talent. However, I’m beginning with the end in mind, so I can help you see where I’m trying to lead you.

Becoming a sought after employer is the end result, not the starting point. It’s at the top of the cultural transformation mountain, not the bottom.

Everything in the following chapters will help you achieve that result. How long will it take? That’s up to you. It depends. For example, if your goal is to swim across a lake and you dive in, you’ll get to the other side of the lake much faster than those who simply stand on the bank and stick their toe in the water to see what it feels like.

Your speed will be determined by your investment. By investment, I mean not only time and money, but also your willingness to lead the transformation and change who you are and how you do what you do. It won’t happen without you leading the way.

Becoming a sought after employer is not about doing something different. That’s easy. It’s about becoming something different. That’s usually not so easy and is a bit more of a challenge.

What you need to know at this point is this: Before you can become a sought after employer, you must become an employer of choice.

“In a culture of strong character, the people inside the company will feel protected by their leaders and feel that their colleagues have their backs. In a culture of weak character, the people will feel that any protection they have comes primarily from their own ability to manage the politics, promote their own successes, and watch their own backs.” ~ Simon Sinek

Continue reading Chapter 5: Becoming an Employer of Choice

Get a FREE download (no email required) of the first 5 chapters of Blue-Collar Leadership & Culture and those below here.

More details about Mack's newest book, Blue-Collar Leadership & Culture: The 5 Components for Building High Performance Teams, released 7/13/19:

“We just can’t find any good people,” is a phrase Mack Story hears far too often as he speaks to and interacts with leaders all across the USA. If you or a member of your leadership team has ever spoken these words, this book was written specifically for you. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Blue-Collar Leadership? & Culture will help you understand why culture is the key to becoming a sought after employer of choice within your industry. Culture matters because those who work there will determine who wants to work there.

Becoming a sought after employer means, “People who don’t work at your organization have a strong desire to work there.”

Becoming an employer of choice means, “People who already work at your organization have a strong desire to continue working there.”

Mack wrote Blue-Collar Leadership? & Culture specifically for leaders who want to become THE sought after employer of choice within their industry and in their area of operations. Sought after employers of choice attract great people and don’t spend their time and resources constantly searching for good people.

Mack has logged over 11,000 hours leading leaders and their blue-collar teams through hundreds of kaizen events, process improvement, organizational change, and cultural transformation and speaks with his wife, Ria Story, on personal growth and leadership development throughout the USA as they help leaders transform their cultures and develop high performance teams.

Although leaders in all industries at all levels will benefit greatly from this book, Mack structured the content specifically for the top leader who has never led a cultural transformation but is curious to find out what will be required. He’ll help you not only discover why you should transform your culture, but also what to do and how to do it. Therefore, Mack includes many references and links to additional resources throughout the book that will support and accelerate your cultural transformation.

Blue-Collar Leadership? & Culture is intended to not only teach, but also to serve as a tool, a guide, and a transformational road map for leaders who want to create a high impact culture that will become their greatest competitive advantage. It’s a starting point for those who don’t know how to start or those who want to become more intentional and methodicalas they take their team to the next level and beyond.

In Blue-Collar Leadership? & Culture, you’ll also discover how to leverage the components of The Transformation Equation to create a culture that will support, attract, and retain high performance team members. To learn more about The Transformation Equation, visit GetTheTransformationEquation.com

“My first words are, GET SIGNED UP! This training is not, and I stress, not your everyday leadership seminar! I have never been a part of anything like it. After 30 years in technology and two years in Concrete Construction, I have attended dozens and sent hundreds to the so-called ‘Leadership-Training’…while all of the courses, classes, webinars, and seminars, had good intentions, nothing can touch what Mack and Ria Story provide…100% of the team that attended said that they were ‘blown-away.’” ~ Sam McLamb, VP/COO