The People Involved Will Change, The Values Can’t

Make no mistake, turnover is always going to happen. Part of our responsibility as leaders is to plan for that. And in planning for each type of turnover we’re sure to experience at one point or another - be that a retirement, a termination due to unacceptable performance, or someone leaving for a competitor or to become our competitor - our core company values can’t change. While the organization I’m referencing didn’t abruptly abandon a set of longstanding values that had been in place and discussed openly for generations, small changes (that every business faces) were occurring routinely and had a compounding effect over time.

I remember being awestruck when I got a firsthand glimpse of the caliber of people heading up each part of this small-to-midsize business; I had seen organizations four and five times their size with just a fraction of the talent and expertise in each business unit. And the most interesting part was that none of those folks were near the end of their careers, even though they had each been with the company, or at least in that specific industry, for at least a decade. The boss was relatively soft spoken and was an absolute master of the craft the organization had been built on. But like most soft spoken folks in leadership roles, he didn’t enjoy conflict and he cared a lot about his long tenured team so he rarely addressed performance that didn’t quite live up to the values he and the most senior employees held dear. And since the majority of the team was so good at what they did, there was rarely a reason for him to; the few folks who were willing to toe the line were essentially policed by the rest of the team, but even those few were extremely skilled in their roles.

Like all companies though, a succession plan was necessary and was being implemented. In even the best scenarios, the new boss won’t have the same expertise right away and will have to earn buy-in from the team they’ll soon be leading. Both require time and an incredible amount of intentional effort; neither happen automatically. If the person taking the reins isn’t willing to develop strong relationships with the key players on the team around them, they often end up getting only the feedback they want to hear rather than what they absolutely need to hear in order to grow into their role and earn the respect necessary to truly lead. And if relationships are never built, top performers will not stick around. The best people in any industry can make a great living just about anywhere they want, the core values of the organization are often exactly why they stay or go…

Albeit not once, a few of the long tenured and highly skilled team members did move on. Replacing their talent was difficult enough, but replacing it with people who would be as loyal as they once were just wasn’t possible. This led to an almost immediate drop in how the folks who occasionally chose to drop the ball on upholding the company’s values were held accountable. Since several of the employees who had done this previously had moved on, the bosses were the only ones left to do it. The one who had earned respect over the years was a bit reluctant to and the one who hadn’t earned respect was far too willing to, and you can guess how well that was received.

With the slope becoming more and more slippery, a few other key players left. Of those who had left, one started a small business in direct competition. As the more established company’s culture drifted away from the values that were once held so close, several highly skilled team members moved to the new company - largely because the owner had earned their respect around his core values.

You can look in any direction today and find an article detailing the woes of finding top talent in any field. As this issue has become more prevalent and as those with the most in demand skills have become able to write their own price tag, a major separator between the company that throws bags of money to just attract a candidate and one that has great team members asking to join the team will be how the organization’s foundation has been built on core values, how expectations for modeling those values have been communicated internally and externally, and how everyone involved is held accountable to those values - by the leadership team initially, and eventually by each other. With this example in mind, let’s consider a few with cultures built on strong values have attracted top talent (and great clients) instead of creating their own competition - stay tuned!