Archives for December 2011

Last week I did a Webinar for Vistage with approximately 500 CEOs…  At the end of the call, we had tons of unanswered questions.  So I asked them to email them to me, and I’d answer ten of the best for them…  Here they are…

1. Q: What metrics can you show your leadership team to help them understand how important culture is to attracting the right talent?
   A: I think it’s less about metrics, and more about the buzz and energy you’ll feel when you do have a everyone buzzing the same way.  Read all the press about the top companies to work for in your city and region, and you’ll see what I mean.  They just have that ‘special something’ and they get extra special results.
2. Q: What impact does having policies against personal calls, emails, texts and social media have on company culture?
   A: Worrying about these areas will not drive results.  Hire A level players.  Set clear roles, goals, and KPIs for each of them.  Support them in their roles.  And DON’T care about how or when they do their work.  So long as they get the results, let them do it in their own way, in their own time.
3. Q: Is it better to recruit or to develop internal candidates?
   A: Neither.  It’s better to have A level players in all roles.  When you have people on your team, do EVERYTHING to help build their skills along they way.  But never compromise where they come from, for the results you need.
4. Q: How to revive the morale within a company that is just tired from all the struggles in this economy.
   A: Ask them.  Seriously.  Ask your team, what they want you to do that will make this the best company to work for.  Then do it.
5. Q: How to keep great employees in small business while they get bigger offers from big companies ?
   A: Make your company the BEST one to work for.  And they’ll never leave.  Seriously.
6. Q: How do you reflect the company culture in through the hiring and interviewing process?
   A: Show videos.  Show photos.  Ensure your office and people rock.  And have your best culture people doing the interviews.
7. Q: How do I hire the best people?
   A: Decide what you need the new hire to do over the next two years.  And ONLY hire people who are the best cultural fit, who’ve also DONE what you need them to do.  Theory is bullshit worthless.  Hire experience.
8. Q: Once you have communicated your vision in detail to the team…who owns continue to communicate it and how often?
   A: The CEO owns culture.  Read chapter one of Double Double.
9. Q: How do you convince your leadership that the Short Term pain of terminating a toxic employee will yield significant benefits in the longer term?
   A: The statistics say that the cost of keeping the wrong employee is 15x their annual salary.  You can’t afford to keep the wrong people working with you, not for a single day more.
10. Q: How do you balance telling the staff what the picture will look like and information leaking out to your competition?
    A: Sharing the vision of the company, is not the same as giving them the plans you’ll use to make it happen.  Share your Vivid Vision (formerly Painted Picture) with the world.  They’ll help you make it come true.