Change can be scary, particularly when running a modern business. There is just so much in flux right now over which business owners have no control. Soaring interest rates. Out of control inflation. Snarls in the supply chain. Record-breaking gas prices. A surge in cyberthreats. Then of course there are those pesky hiring challenges associated with today’s workforce – finding, retaining and paying for talent, and a mostly disinterested labor pool. The list of current challenges affecting small businesses feels endless.
But here is a little secret. While “business as usual” no longer exists, true business leaders consider all these paradigm shifts and bumps as opportunities for innovation. The most interesting thing here, however, is that the most enduring and impactful improvements to the business of doing business will not come from some new technology or a healthy supply chain or even a calmer economy. Rather, the most noteworthy advances to industry will emerge as business owners increasingly adopt a more holistic approach to their business strategies and, most importantly, to their employees and company culture.
Rethinking Employee Engagement
The labor force today thinks differently than it did even three years ago. Workers expect and really demand a more dynamic and rewarding employment environment, one where they feel valued, supported, and inspired. One which they feel is purposeful and feeds something beyond their bank account. But how do you—the business leader—get your employees to feel this way? Easy. You actually value, support, and inspire them. You feed their purpose. Okay, maybe it’s not so easy; but it is definitely well worth the effort.
As a business owner, it is time to rethink how you relate to and engage with your entire team. Your employees are not those nameless cogs of yesteryear. They are essential components to the success and growth of your business. And you, business leader, should be an essential component in their success and growth.
Next-Level Leadership
Creating a mutually supportive business environment depends on communication and engagement with today’s workforce. Urge your employees to think about what they want from their job, career, and life. Talk to them about how they would like to grow as professionals and as people. Let them know you truly care about their happiness and prosperity. Then find ways, both standard and perhaps creative, that show you mean it.
The key to this new age of business leadership is to truly start caring about your people as much as you do your business. You can’t do it alone; your team, and every individual employee therein, are key factors in the success of your business. And you need to be a key factor in the success of each of their lives.
Of course, this includes helping your employees achieve their career goals, giving them opportunities for growth and learning, creating a work environment in which they thrive and much more. But it also means truly caring about each of your people beyond their employee status, supporting them in overcoming personal challenges, and being there as someone that transcends the employee-boss dynamic.
This all might sound like a lot of kumbaya rhetoric punctuated by pink heart emojis, but by creating a supportive, considerate, and humanity-embracing leadership style, you will dramatically enhance your ability to retain and acquire the talent you need, both in good economic times and bad.
The HR Crystal Ball
Listen. Inflation will curb eventually, the supply chain will get cranking again, and interest rates will ebb and flow. But make no mistake, today’s workforce is never going back to the unfulfilling employment dynamic of years past.
So wise business owners take heed. It is time to implement a holistic, compassionate, and employee-centric approach to your leadership style. It is time to instill “humanity” within your human resources strategy. It is time to embrace the new labor force.
