At the end of the Rainbow

Money is a powerful incentive. But relying on it alone leaves any organization exposed to talent leakage. Ultimately, people need to feel a sense of purpose in their work, as well as of excitement and pride in working in the organization, for them to really want to stay, even if there is a higher offer elsewhere. These feelings can sometimes arise from the company’s products or objectives (i.e., cool technology, sustainable energy, multiplanetary humanity) or inspirational leaders (Jobs, Buffet, Musk, Branson). But they are only truly enduring and self-reinforcing if rooted on a strong trust-based ownership culture. Flywheels of Excellence don’t lose talent, they attract talent. I’ll explore this further in this article.

#management #humanresources #careers #personaldevelopment #culture #leadership #ownershipmindset #bestadvice #jobs #purpose #trust #transparency #meritocracy

Every time I interviewed candidates in the companies I worked for, I always asked why they wanted to come. The answers I would typically get were “because the product is cool”, “because the company is large and has more opportunities”, or “because the company is a leader in its market”.

By themselves, none of these answers are sufficient reasons to join an organization. Working there could be hell on earth, regardless of pay. Having worked for nearly a decade in Wall Street financial institutions, I have experienced myself the “going for the highest bidder” type of corporate loyalty.

The real reasons most times are “I hate the place I work in”, “I need a job to pay my bills”, “I need a career change”, “this role pays more” (short and long term), or “I need the halo that your company name brings to my resume”. None of these are sufficient either.

People tend to miss acknowledging the much more important intangibles that make a company a “good place to work*”. How good is the corporate culture in practice? How engaged are the employees? How much real (candid, honest) coaching and meaningful opportunities I’ll get to develop myself and grow? How much responsibility and autonomy I’ll get? Do leaders “Walk the Talk”? Is the company truly meritocratic?

I used to joke with candidates that, if the answers to the above questions are positive, you would care less if the company’s product were the handling of manure. Regardless of the product, you could feel accomplished, excited, and purposeful.

So how to bring that purposefulness to employees? Let’s tackle these building blocks one by one.

Common purpose. Organizations write and post “Mission”, “Vision”, and “Values” on their websites, handbooks, and on their office walls. Frequently there is little correlation of those words with the goals and the realities of the company. They become “words on the wall”.

The goals of the organization need to be purposeful; employees need to feel that they are “building something bigger than themselves”. The company’s mission and vision should be closely connected with that purpose. And that purpose should be consistently present in communications to employees, customers, and all other relevant stakeholders.

A very good example is Nike’s mission: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world”. And by athlete, they mean everyone. So, if you work at Nike, you’re helping people all over the world be active, become healthier, and feel better about themselves. That is powerful and purposeful. Without it, employees might see it as just marketing and designing expensive shoes to grow profits (most of which go to shareholders).

Clear ways of working. The company’s values should also be in synch with the purpose and the mission; they need to truly live beyond the company’s walls. To ensure these values are real and not just words, they should permeate the daily interactions in the company. Leaders and employees who consistently display these values should be recognized and awarded, and the ones that don’t should be reprimanded and ultimately let go if the behavior doesn’t change. Employees should be able to feel free to call on each other if these values are not being adhered to.

How meritocracy is defined and implemented in real life is a key value for any organization. It’s ok to treat people differently, if the rules of the game are clear, consistently applied, and fair (such as performance and talent).

When people know their behavioral bounds and know what to expect from colleagues, managers, and the rules of the game, working becomes less of an exercise in politics and survival, and more of an exercise in building something together. People become less “self-focused” and more “mission-focused”.

Meaningful job design. Accountability and responsibility are strong drivers of purpose to any job. Coupled with consistent and fair meritocracy, they build the foundation of ownership-mindset.

If jobs and expectations are designed such that employees feel they have agency and enjoy (or suffer) the results of their hard work, they become less passive in how they deal with the rest of the organization. They feel more confident in their roles and decision-making, bring new ideas, embrace new opportunities, and challenge their peers to behave similarly.

The worst practice is when leaders take their employees for granted, not trusting them to act in a responsible and value-accretive manner. Job responsibilities are constrained and become meaningless. I’ve heard many times the sentence “the organization is not mature enough”. This is a clutch for leaders not to do anything test and develop the maturity of the organization.

Transparent leadership. Leaders must be consistently clear and honest in their communication. They don't hide information or motives and are open about their objectives, decisions, and the rationale behind them. They display a high level of trust in the organization.

In doing so, they foster an environment where employees feel valued and respected, have a deeper understanding of their roles and how their work contributes to the organization's goals, they feel they belong. It goes without saying that this transparency enhances job satisfaction and motivation, which leads to higher engagement and improved performance.

This also includes mistakes. Effective leadership often requires some level of vulnerability and humility. Leaders who hide mistakes risk damaging their own credibility and effectiveness over time. ?They also imply that mistakes are inherently bad and should be avoided, which of course will be understood as a rule of the game for the employees. It also erodes trust. When mistakes are thrown under the rug, the organization misses critical learning opportunities. And their consequences might grow until finally exposed.

These building blocks are critical to build an ownership-minded culture, in which great employees feel they are agents of change, feel they belong to a winning team, trust their colleagues and leadership to do what is best of the organization, and enjoy building something bigger than themselves.

In Flywheel of Excellence companies, there’s more than just gold at the end of the rainbow. There’s purpose, and with it, a sense of accomplishment after a long and prosperous career.

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* Public surveys such as “Great Place to Work” or similar are not fully reliable, given they usually have some degree of subjectivity and manipulation, or don’t uncover important aspects accurately. Engagement scores, widely used as an internal measure, are not as reliable as people assume either. Scores can be as high in mediocre companies as in great companies since employees in mediocre countries don’t trust managers with the privacy of their answers, or that the company will act on its gaps. I recommend talking to as many people as possible, especially down the totem pole, to assess a new job.