Winning the Talent Wars: Part 2

In my last post I talked about winning the war for talent by growing existing people and minimising time consumed fighting for new talent. In this post I want to consider how to keep that talent. I mentioned before that at DHL we have been named a Great Place to Work, which is an indicator of our ability to win the hearts and minds of our employees. And our results have been consistently very good. So, what are we doing right? I know I have said this many times before, but I believe it flows from the strength of our organisational culture.?

When recruiting this means considering the cultural fit not just the experience and skills. Candidates need to want to be a part of what we’re trying to do, but we need to feel employees are going to like it, that they’ll want to come into work every day because they enjoy being here.?

Of course, this commitment must be reciprocated. As an organisation we must nurture and develop talent in ways that builds their sense of belonging. This begins from the day that new employees start with an onboarding programme, designed to give everyone the same great experience, that makes them feel part of something special. It continues with the investment we make in their talent development; it also comes from how we build employee trust. Trust in their colleagues, trust in the organisation.??

This comes from management. People must feel their managers are approachable, willing to listen and committed to help. It’s the responsibility of managers to build teams where people feel recognised and respected; where extra effort is appreciated, never taken for granted; and where great performers are made to feel like superstars.?

Of course, these are statements that many organisations make. So let me illustrate the point. I try and sit on as many project teams as possible so I can hear what is being said and get close to the real business scenarios my teams are dealing with. This can mean me sitting in on as many as 25-30 projects a month. The benefit is not just that my teams see me doing this, creating a sense of togetherness, it also means I get close enough to these projects to provide support if required.??

A final point I want to touch upon is the importance of looking beyond the workplace to show employees we care about their communities. We have offices in more than 200 countries, we have worked hard to make every employee in those 200+ countries feel connected. But we also believe it’s essential to show we care about their lives outside of work. That’s why we have created global programmes that celebrate our people who volunteer to help in their local communities, that improve the educational opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and that deploy our logistics capabilities wherever disaster strikes.??

I think these employer commitments and everyday behaviours build shared experiences and memories, a belief of being in it together. And for many people it also builds something rare, a feeling of family. This is a word I use carefully as it has such depth of meaning, but it is a word I have often heard colleagues speak. And if we have succeeded in making people feel part of a family, then we will also have succeeded in keeping their talent.??