As promised in the previous part, here are the 5 team retention reinforcers in detail:
1. Focus on "Unique Ability"
Your team will stay much longer if they are continually developing and leveraging their "Unique Ability".
"Unique Ability" is a terminology created by Dan Sullivan, Co-Founder and President of Strategic Coach.
Every person has a value creation capability that can be uniquely appreciated by the marketplace AND by their fellow team members.
Your "Unique Ability" produces an abundance of energy for you and for everyone that works with you.
If each player on your team is focused on their "Unique Ability", then you are making the highest levels of team retention, team appreciation, and team multiplication possible.
How can we expect our team members to stay for the long-haul if their work drains them of energy?...
And how can we expect our team members to feel uniquely appreciated if they do not focus on what they are uniquely great at?...
A team with symbiotic unique abilities will create an abundance of time, energy, and money to re-invest into the ongoing growth of your business.
Here are 6 clues from Strategic Coach to help you identify your own unique ability and each of your team member's unique abilities.
You love to do this everywhere—not just in business.
- It shines in many different situations.
- Your Unique Ability is “factory installed”: you’ve been doing it since childhood.
- It comes to you so naturally, you might not think it’s anything special.
- Other people count on you for these special talents.
- You can get better and better at this for your whole life … and still find it fascinating.
When everyone on your team focuses on their “Unique Ability” you can multiply your profitability and set your business up for sustainable growth.
2. A Pre-existing Relationship
Applicants will arrive pre-interested in a long-term relationship with you, if they feel like they were already in a long-term relationship with you.
This is why building a strong brand is so important.
We oftentimes see brand building as a tool for acquiring new customers, but we forget that a strong reputation impacts every part of your business.
Especially team retention.
3. A Massively Unifying Purpose
Your team will stay longer if the greater "Why" of the company aligns with their personal ambitions.
In other words, what do they actually want to be a part of?...
What impact do they want to leave on the world and in their community?...
This is the foundation of all sustainable relationships.
4. Servant Leadership
Your team members are likely to stay for the long haul if the leadership:
- Makes people feel safe and supported,
- Facilitates team unity,
- Magnifies clarity and kills confusion.
- Keeps Truthfulness and Kindness at the core of your company's culture.
Without exceptional leadership, your company is destined to have high employee turnover and diminishing profitability over the next decade.
5. A Team Appreciation System
I like to break team appreciation down into 3 categories:
Emotional Appreciation, Intellectual Appreciation, and Financial Appreciation.
Do your team members feel uniquely appreciated in each of these areas?...
If you want to encourage the highest levels of team retention then your team members must.
- Continually create more value for your Best Clients,
- Feel uniquely appreciated for that value creation,
- And continually expand the desired freedom in their lives,
I like to call this "The Team Appreciation Ladder".
Sit down with each of your team members and have them answer these questions.
- What is this person uniquely great at doing?...
- What does this person want to do now?...
- Which value creation activities give this person energy?...
- With whom does this person want to work?...
- For whom can this team member create more freedom?...
- Where does this person want to be 5 years from now?...
- What does this person really dislike doing?...
- How much money does this person really want to make?...
Have each team member self-select *3 Value Creation Milestones* that they want to hit over the next 3 years.
If your team members select their own milestones, it incentivizes a higher level of commitment.
How Big Breakthroughs Actually Happen
I want to remind you that 10X breakthroughs do not happen if you are constantly rebuilding relationships and wasting your energy on mediocre client segments.
The key to big breakthroughs is to:
- Focus on your "Ideal Solution" for your "Ideal Client",
- Retain your "Dream Team" for the long-haul,
- Appreciate your "Dream Team" by having everyone focus on their "Unique Ability".
- Hire and or partner for new capabilities that multiply your "Dream Team's" effectiveness in the marketplace.
If you retain, you remain.
This is the name of the game.
About the Author
Kalim Aull is a Sustainable Growth Evangelist.