These days, corporate training and development professionals are focused on leadership coaching or corporate strategy, such as mission/vision/values alignment. While those are worthwhile endeavours, and I commend my colleagues for their good work, professional development of this sort remains outside the average employee's sphere of influence. Leadership and corporate strategy are imposed on employees' work lives.
Frontline employees and individual contributors do not have a choice regarding their manager or the opportunity to engage in corporate strategy. Sure, some say there's always a choice, and they're right. Employees can always walk if they don't agree with the structures imposed on them, and certainly, the high turnover rates we see lately support this response.
On the flip side, recruitment is more challenging than ever these days, especially with apps like GlassDoor that scratch away at a carefully constructed corporate image. Recruitment is failing to cover the gaps posed by high turnover and this leaves everyone struggling. Frontline workers and individual contributors burn out producing with fewer people. HR grapples to recruit in a competitive market. Management is forced to fight fires daily rather than mentor their team to success. Leadership spins their wheels, trying to find solutions. At every level, engagement is affected. Which affects turnover. Which affects recruitment. It's a vicious circle of burnout, fighting fires, and spinning wheels. Survival just to make it to the next quarter.

So, how do we help our teams work within the imposed structures and still garner some sense of engagement?
And where should we invest people development money to both curtail turnover and shore up recruitment?
If these questions resonate, it's time to discuss organizational health and employee well-being.
While there are lots of changes that can be made, most are duct tape solutions. It holds for a little while but more than one season and it becomes brittle and things break down again. If you want sustainable and transformational change, there is one specific shift that solves all your people development issues from engagement to turnover and recruitment. What is that shift?
Employees first. Full stop.
We often think our organization focuses on people first, but usually, "people" refers to shareholders, clients, or customers. Which is close, but still just fancy duct tape.
If your organization wants to try "employees first" and end the cycle of burnout, fighting fires and spinning wheels, let's talk. We'll start small. Together.
It's time to put the duct tape down.
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