Re-member Your Team

EXPRESS COACHING MOMENT

‘Re-member’ Your Team

For those of us who lead teams, one of our most urgent and important priorities is to attract, cultivate and keep world class talent. Having a team filled with exceptional performers doesn’t just give you bragging rights; it’s one of the few remaining ways to distinguish yourself and your work from the competition. It’s one of your best competitive edges! And it doesn’t just happen on its own either.

That means that we must intentionally set aside time from our often insanely busy schedules to aim ourselves at this work. And when we’re really tight on time, which is almost always, we tend to focus far more on the first two elements of the talent equation – recruiting the best (attract) and growing and building our bench strength (cultivate). It’s hard for me to argue with this approach; we can’t live without them.

But let’s not forget that third element – retention. Keeping top performers once they’ve joined us. What are we doing to ‘re-member’ our longer tenured stars & superstars?  To once again, emphasize how proud and appreciative we are to have on our team? To sing their praises? To give them our undivided attention? To re-ignite their passion and enthusiasm? To refresh their energy?

It’s time to stop taking our strongest & longest performers for granted. One best practice to consider is conducting ‘stay’ interviews. Of course, we make time for interviewing recruits. And we find time for exit interviews, often asking what we could have done differently to keep the person. Stay interviews give us an opportunity to answer that powerful question before it’s too late to make a difference.

Leadership Dare – Pick two tenured top performers and schedule an hour with each. Tell them what you’re up to and ask them to think about ways that you can help them to be happier and more fulfilled. Thank them for their leadership and tell them what their contribution means to you and the team.

Don’t think you have the time? Think of this as an investment….a trade-off. There just might be one less exit interview in your future!!