1.

WHOLE EMPLOYEE SAFETY/BELONGING:

Host monthly (weekly if possible), paid lunch meetings with your team to relate human-to-human. A core human need is to feel a sense of belonging; to be fully seen and accepted exactly as we are, for who we are. It’s important to take the time to find out what each employees’ personal values are and learn, beyond work, who they really are. What is particularly meaningful to them? Is there something about them that rarely anyone knows? What is unique about their life story? Understanding this with each employee deepens their connection to you and to the other employees human-to-human. Not department head to department head or boss to employee. Leave the titles out of it. You can offer them a questionnaire to initiate this process, or you can simply talk it out in a group setting. If you can’t do this in person due to the pandemic and remote working, you can always send all employees a gift card to Starbucks (or the like) so you can all plan to enjoy some food/coffee while diving into this. PS. Remember to keep the focus off of business as much as you can. The less you talk about business, the better.

2.

CAREER TRANSPARENCY:

Have honest, direct conversations with each employee about their possibilities to excel within your organization. I would recommend you do this quarterly (in a shorter format) and yearly in a longer more in-depth format. Developing an employee growth plan is essential to both their growth and the success of your business. If you aren’t doing this, you are repelling hundreds of thousands maybe millions from your business. You can tell each employee your expectations for their role, what you see in their future, but more than anything, make sure to ask them how they want to develop and where they want to take their career within your organization. Doing so, and asking other collaborative questions fosters a sense of ownership, engagement, and develops potential role innovations and latent skill development opportunities you might otherwise have missed out on. Another core human need is the desire for clarity, challenge, alignment, and future direction…..which if done right all gets flushed out in their growth plan. Anyone can find a job, what makes an employee stay at a company is the opportunity to have a career within an organization.

3.

CELEBRATE LIVED COMPANY VALUES:

How does your company live its values? Are they reflected internally the same way they are promoted externally? Does your organization walk the walk with its values? Can it be seen in the actions of each employee or are they just words written on a dry erase board or loose in a notebook somewhere collecting dust? How are they cultivated, practiced, and celebrated internally with each employee? Do you acknowledge those who live your core ethos and make a positive example out of them? Company values aren’t a publicity stunt, they are the magnet and bonding agent that attracts and retains top talent that cares exactly the way you do. If you want employees who care for profit, people, and the planet; your business must live this ethos. In an age where customers and employees have a long list of choices as to where they can spend their money and where they can work, it’s imperative that you make your company a living example of the values you promote externally.