Ken Ingram – Since the pandemic we have been in an employee crisis mode that makes becoming an employer of choice more challenging. Signs on almost every business can be seen “We are Hiring” – a desperate call for employees. However, if truth be told, it has been happening for years. In 1997, a ground-breaking McKinsey study exposed the “war for talent” as a strategic business challenge.
What’s happening now has been going on for years but now the people who you want to attract are in the driver seat. You need to treat the ones you have well to attract new ones. In some respects, it is almost as if time has stood still. How is it that one of the biggest concerns business owners have had still exists and why have we not been able to find a solution?
Proactively Address the War for Talent
In the book The Customer Comes Second by Hal F Rosenbluth he talks about the secret of his company’s success. He made the decision to put his internal customers (his employees) first and in doing so was able to achieve 7,500 % growth within 15 years. This begs the question; can your business create a similar result and what would the process look like?
The answer is yes, but it will require that you encourage and develop your internal customers. This will not be an easy process because it involves time, energy, and commitment. It requires that you become focused on what matters to the contributors to your business. You may need to turn your focus upside down because that’s what Rosenbluth did, and it should spill over into what matters for the external customer.
When you create the right internal customer experience, your external customer should also benefit. In doing so, they may help you to attract more clients. When you work to create the right internal customer experience at all levels, they will also reward you with their loyalty. In addition, this will help you to increase your revenues.
Maybe Rosenbluth was on to something. We need to put more attention to the needs of the internal customer. Once again, it would appear that we are a world built upside down, since one of our most challenging issues remains unsolved. How do you become an employer of choice? Try our free Employee Productivity Calculator to estimate how engaged your employees are.