Engineers build things that delight customers Engineers focus on solving challenges Execute faster than your competitors But how do you build that great team and keep it together? The Headhunters Dream In case of any confusion, we find great people for great businesses. We're a product innovation/engineering, manufacturing, process improvement consulting business, but at the same time a recruitment/placement business. It's fascinating, what we see as "headhunters" for the Engineering Services sector. Some organizations missed the training course: Employees 1st, Customers 2nd. It's still a relatively new concept and an even less practiced approach for many. The good news is for a recruiter, it leaves the door wide open to recruit your employees/contractors. All you have left, when they resign is more money and promises The facts speak for themselves: 80% of candidates who stay at their current company after receiving a counter offer end up leaving within a year Spotting the signs It matters not the name of the company or the type of organization you work for, but instead who you work for. If the culture is “old school” you’ll frequently see the signs: They counter-offer when someone resigns It’s the classic secondary focus on employees, who only become the short-term #1 priority upon resignation. Up until this point, their needs, their hopes and their dreams had been consistently in second place to their boss’ They resign, the boss scrambles to counter-offer to fix their Boss’ problem and at the same time PROMISE to fix the employees, coupled with more money. They don't ask for input The saying is Teamwork for Dreamwork and unless you’re involved in the overall understanding of the product problem to be solved, the architectural/design solution; it’s hard for you to adapt and resolve in the face of challenges. You end up as a mere “pawn” in the overall game. How can you grow, if you’re kept in the dark? Don't value your time This is a classic sign - your boss cancels meetings, they start late, they finish your meeting late. In other words they’re saying “my time is more important than yours” They forget, the reason there’s more than one person in the company is because the owner is unable to carry out all the functions essential to building the business and solving customer problems. Everyone’s time is important! Don't pay you fairly To me, this is often misunderstood as payment comes in various forms and is personal to your situation. Of course, if you’re Getting toward the latter part of your official pre-retirement years then of course every cent counts, as promises don't fill-up the pension fund. However, with several years ahead, stock options, equity, & long-term bonuses can make a whole lot of sense versus a high basic salary. There's no right or wrong, just as long as your employer acknowledges what is the fair market rate for your role and builds a package around that Mushroom Management They don't share company news, they don’t bring where they’re headed - no transparency, thus minimal trust Micro-management For any business to be successful, it must learn what makes the real difference – the core business, people’s lives & the customer community… And put everything else into some reasonable context. That context doesn't mean ignore mistakes, but probably means improve over time. Not shout and worry about today. Keep these distractions– everything that doesn’t matter– to a minimum. Empathy 1st, Judgement never Every great culture starts with Empathy. Unless you understand what your people want next and perhaps in the future, how can you possibly help them to help you get where you want to be? it’s a two-way deal and is regardless of them being on your payroll. If you understand your people, the naivety of judging others starts to dissipate. Everyone does things for a reason - what gives you the right to judge? Who made you the higher authority on their lives? Upside down Leadership When you’re in “the trenches”, you need support be that customer feedback, money, leadership, direction, payment or whatever and that’s why we have HR, Finance, CEOs, Marketing etc Sometimes these departments forget who they work for!? Authenticity Authentic leadership is a management style in which leaders are genuine, self-aware, and transparent. An authentic leader is able to inspire loyalty and trust in her employees by consistently displaying who she really is as a person, and how she feels about her employees' performance. Authentic leadership is the single strongest predictor of an employee's job satisfaction. by Andrew Sparrow