The Circus of Talent – An Illusion or
Tomorrow’s New Reality?
By Michael Eber and Rusty Sherwood – Senior Consultants at FMI Center for Strategic
Leadership
Merriam-Webster defines a circus as “an arena often covered by a tent
and used for variety shows including feats of physical skill, wild animal
acts and performances; or a situation or event that is very busy, lively and
confusing which attracts a lot of attention.” We naturally gravitate to the
first definition while watching the contortionists, illusionists and acrobats.
We temporarily suspend our reality and focus with awe as the performers
execute with discipline and precision.
At the core are the people, the troupe, coaches and trainers who are
never content maintaining the status quo. Yet, as executives and senior
leaders how often, do we pause and reflect on our organization’s talent?
Are we managing and executing within our own circus or attempting to
wave a magic wand across our overloaded desks filled proposals and
projects, and putting out fires?
Considering our tight and slightly improving margins, we face an industry
wide talent shortage. So what does it mean for us? How do we take this
dour situation and turn it into a competitive advantage? How do we create
our own feats of strategy and skill as we differentiate ourselves to gain in
the market? Pondering these questions, readers will also understand the
changes in the labor market; ways to keep the best and brightest, and how
senior executives retain engaged, motivated and productive employees.
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How real is the talent shortage? It is expected 76 million Baby Boomers,
those aged 51 to 69, will retire. These are individuals born from 1945 to
1963 and serve as the backbones for industry. They bring a keen
understanding of mission and purpose, have experience, insight and
perspective, along with time tested skills and patience. Meanwhile many
lack succession plans.
Moreover, the talent shortage is expected to become even more
problematic with a larger construction workforce required with the
rebounding economy. Realize many workers left the industry during the
last recession or retired early leaving a gaping hole and a short time in
which to fill the talent chasm. The bottom line is we face a lapse in
construction skills and knowledge and a shortage of available and skilled
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talent in the industry. As one industry executive explained, “Expect a
shortage of management talent for some time as economic growth
outstrips home-grown talent and managers choose entrepreneurship
increasingly.”
Strategic and tactical next steps
Organizations need to invest in their existing workforce. It is more complex
than simply doing a Google search “how great companies retain the best
employees” as you get nearly 300,000,000 results! Furthermore, it is
expensive to hire and replace workers. One leading HR expert indicates,
“losing a middle manager costs an organization up to 100 percent of
his/her salary. The loss of a senior executive is even more costly with
estimates double the annual salary.”
Instead leading organizations understand that “retaining your best
employees ensures customer satisfaction, product sales, satisfied
coworkers, effective succession planning and deeply imbedded
organizational knowledge and learning,” according to a leading Human
Resources consultant.
Visionary executives see their staff as a strength, a competitive
differentiator and are clearly aware of the capability gaps. These leaders
focus on insights, capabilities, vision and commitment to purpose, and
develop specific action plans to train these people to be exceptional
leaders. As one senior leader said, “investments in workforce training will
be required to lift skill levels in new markets and to remain competitive in
developed ones.” Fundamentally, those organizations that differentiate
themselves with training and skills development will keep the best and
brightest.
High performing companies understand the changing workforce. A recent
Pricewaterhouse Coopers study found 80 million Americans were born
between 1980 and 2000 and are called the “Millennial Generation or Gen
Y.” In 2014, thirty-six percent of the workforce will consist of Millennials
and in 2020 forty-six percent of all US workers are projected to be
Millennials. The fundamental problem is the math does not work because
70 percent of the Millennials plan to change jobs once the economy
improves.
Moreover, there are natural biases towards this generation making the
need for specific skills obvious and leaving the capable pool far short of
qualified employees. Preeminent organizations know how to find the
proverbial “wheat from the chaff” by creatively engaging this generation
and accept this generation is motivated dissimilarly than any previous
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generation. They will recruit differently – focused on social media sites,
demonstrate how the organization leverages technology and push this
generation to their limits once hired. Remember, Millennials need to be
kept focused with customized plans, positions, feedback and interactivity;
and be treated like professionals. Millennials have such high expectations
placed on them because according to one demographer, they are the
“hottest commodity on the job market—they are sociable, optimistic,
talented, well-educated, collaborative, open-minded, influential and
achievement-oriented.”
World-class companies embrace talent and execute world class retention
policies. These senior leaders actively promote better productivity from all
employees. They understand while each generation is different, the sum is
greater than the individual parts (i.e. 1+1 = 3). They embrace the Baby
Boomers as they are teachers, coaches, and mentors. They engage them
as organizational advisers for younger hires.
Their stories, approaches to business and understanding the landscape
are immensely valuable. Furthermore, these C-suite leaders embrace the
guidance found in three themes articulated in a McKinsey Quarterly. First,
sophisticated organizations find “hidden gems.” Who are the quiet high
performers and silent rock stars? Identify, find out what makes them click,
formalize how to best learn from their talents and leverage their
capabilities. Next, customization matters. Organizations are different and
so are people. Develop compensation plans, projects and feedback
reflecting individuality.
Finally, there is more to the work than just a paycheck. Attention, praise,
leadership opportunities and training often deliver longer-term retention
and enthusiasm for the company than salary alone. A president of a
national construction firm shared, “with market growth there is going to be
a talent war, and teaching, coaching and mentoring future leaders will be
the limiting factor in our ability to grow and maintain our competitive
advantage”
As we reflect on the circus lights, the big tents and the elaborate
costumes, we realize it is all an illusion. For reality sits with those
companies that act strategically, view talent and retention as an essential
component of success and work creatively to retain the best and brightest.
Other quotes and facts to insert in call out boxes or along the gutters:
Elena Bajic a contributor with Forbes magazine makes these
recommendations for retaining the best and brightest:
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1)
Communicate, communicate, communicate: The funny thing
about communication is that it’s as much about the words you
say, as it is about the tone of your voice combined with eye
contact, hand gestures, body positioning, and even touch (that
proverbial “pat on the back”.)
2)
Coach rather than manage
3)
Establish clear performance metrics and make employees
accountable for delivering: Establish well-defined metrics for
evaluating an employee’s contribution to achieving business
goals. Expect and demand good work. Review performance
versus those metrics on a regular basis. Acknowledge good
work when it’s delivered. Discuss work that missed the mark
and jointly determine how to avoid a repeat performance in the
next round.
4)
Leverage performance reviews to gain insights into employee’
goals and aspirations:
5)
Create growth opportunities: When hiring, look inside first.
Make it a priority to scan the internal environment first to see if
there are existing employees who could stretch into the new
position…growing to the next level.
6)
Underscore positive feedback with something tangible
HR World has three great calculators: cost to hire calculators, bad hire
calculators and wage rate. These simple to use tools provide quick dollar
analysis to understand the real costs of hiring and removing an employee
as well as their real cost of compensation beyond just a salary.
The Wall Street Journal offered these leading practices to maintain/retain
employees:

Offer a competitive benefits package that fits your employees’
needs. Providing health insurance, life insurance and a retirementsavings plan is essential in retaining employees. But other perks,
such as flextime and the option of telecommuting, go a long way to
show employees you are willing to accommodate their outside
lives.

Provide some small perks. Free bagels on Fridays and dry-cleaning
pickup and delivery may seem insignificant to you, but if they help
employees better manage their lives, they’ll appreciate it and may
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be more likely to stick around.

Use contests and incentives to help keep workers motivated and
feeling rewarded. Done right, these kinds of programs can keep
employees focused and excited about their jobs.

Conduct “stay” interviews. In addition to performing exit interviews
to learn why employees are leaving, consider asking longer-tenured
employees why they stay. Ask questions such as: Why did you
come to work here? Why have you stayed? What would make you
leave? And what are your nonnegotiable issues? What about your
managers? What would you change or improve? Then use that
information to strengthen your employee-retention strategies.

Promote from within whenever possible. And give employees a
clear path of advancement. Employees will become frustrated and
may stop trying if they see no clear future for themselves at your
company.

Foster employee development. This could be training to learn a
new job skill or tuition reimbursement to help further your
employee’s education.

Create open communication between employees and
management. Hold regular meetings in which employees can offer
ideas and ask questions. Have an open-door policy that
encourages employees to speak frankly with their managers
without fear of repercussion.

Get managers involved. Require your managers to spend time
coaching employees, helping good performers move to new
positions and minimizing poor performance.

Communicate your business’s mission. Feeling connected to the
organization’s goals is one way to keep employees mentally and
emotionally tied to your company.

Offer financial rewards. Consider offering stock options or other
financial awards for employees who meet performance goals and
stay for a predetermined time period, say, three or five years. Also,
provide meaningful annual raises. Nothing dashes employee
enthusiasm more than a paltry raise. If you can afford it, give more
to your top performers. Or, if you don’t want to be stuck with large
permanent increases, create a bonus structure where employees
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can earn an annual bonus if they meet prespecified performance
goals.

Make sure employees know what you expect of them. It may seem
basic, but often in small companies, employees have a wide
breadth of responsibilities. If they don’t know exactly what their jobs
entail and what you need from them, they can’t perform up to
standard, and morale can begin to dip.