Why Continuous Change Is Good For Business

Why Continuous Change Is Good For BusinessWhy Continuous Change Is Good For BusinessWhy Continuous Change Is Good For Business Blaszczyk, Managing Editor, Resource CenterSuccessful geschftslebenes know that the key to their success is relevancy.But as Jason Jennings points out, eventually every businesswill become irrelevant.As the best-selling author of four highly-acclaimed books on leadership and management, Jennings says that established companies now have two choices stick with the status quo and decline, or completely revamp their strategy to stay vital.He shared some of his ideaswith fromhis latest book, The Reinventors How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change (Portfolio, 2012.)Monster What does it take to thrive in this ever-changing and volatile economy particularly from a recruiting and hiring standpoint?JenningsAll it takes to thrive in business is to have aBIG noble strategic objectiveSet of guiding principles known to everyone so that decisions get m ade instantaneouslyGroup of people fully committed to achieving the BIG objective for the betterment of all the stakeholdersSet of key result indicators to measure the progress and keep everyone focusedSystem in place to reward people for the economic value they createSense of ethos thats built on the desire to exceed the expectations of customers.The real problem with most jobs is that they arent big enough for people because they dont feed peoples souls.The challenge to leaders is to make jobs big enough for people so their hearts and souls get fed as well.Monster You say that if a business isnt achieving 5 and 10 percent annual growth today, its likely to lose its top employees. Has the war for top talent become that competitive?Jennings Yes, the war for top talenthas become that fierce but thats beside the point.The reason that those companies that arent growing are certain to lose their most talented people is bedrngnishing is other than same old reason theres not much challe nge left, not any chance for a promotion or mora responsibility and little prospect for more money.Then, theyll leave.Nobody woke up this morning and said to themselves, I sure hope today sucks more than yesterdayEveryone wants a better tomorrow than today. If those better tomorrows cant be found where theyre currently working, bright people will find their future somewhere else. You need growth to attract, keep and grow the right people.Monster How are todays most successful companies achieving that type of business growth while retaining top talent?Jennings Western economies have been growing an anemic 2 to 3 percent for a number of years and every economic forecast is for more of the same in the future. The only way to achieve double digit growth is by thrilling customers.Note I didnt say, satisfying customers.There are many studies that definitively prove that satisfied customers leave. In order to thrill customers you need to stay in front of their changing wants and needs and the only way to do that is to keep your hands dirty.And you can only keep your hands dirty by spending half your time with your customers.Its a sad comment on most companies that the higher you move up the food chain the less time is spent with customers.Monster In your book, you tell the story of a CEO who says that recruiting is no longer just about finding bright people but hiring top talentwith the ability to learn new things. Can you explain the difference?JenningsOne of the surprising findings of our research was that extraordinary companies that embrace constant radical changesare filled with lifelong learners.As we discuss in the book, you can easily spot people who arent capable of being lifelong learners. Lifelong learnersDont have a need to always look good to otherThey dont think that making mistakes make them look badThey relish accountability and getting a gradeThey have no need to steal leistungspunkt from others.There are some bright people out there who always hav e to look good, can never be seen as making a mistake, they dislike accountability and they have no problem stealing credit from others. Aside from the fact that theyre bright and have those character flaws, theyre toxic.Monster Do you have any final recommendations for fast-growing companies who are challenged in finding talent and by employee turnover?Jennings Having screened and studied more than 200,000 companies for my books, Id pass along the following observation.Companies get the workforce they deserve. Its really that simple. And no company can tactically do anything to get a better workforce than they deserve.So it all comes down to the following six rules1.Have a BIG noble strategic objective that will in some way make the world a better place. People want their souls fed as well as their pocketbooks.2.Make sure that everyone not only knows the BIG noble strategic objective but understands how what they do moves the company closer to its attainment. Thats how you achieve authentic employee engagement.3.Make certain that everyone knows how what they do creates economic value, thats it measured and that theyre compensated commensurate with the economic value they create. Thats how people start thinking and acting like the owner.4.Be an organization that makes letting go of ego, yesterdays breadwinners, same old-same old and conventional wisdom an integral part of their company culture. That insures that no one will ever get bored there will always be lots of excitement and just a little more work than its possible to get done.5.Be committed to double-digit growth so that the right people will want to work for you, stay with you and constantly be challenged by increasing amounts of responsibility and reward.6.Be a company with a 100% commitment to good stewardship of all the stakeholders the workers, the customers, the vendors and suppliers, the owners or shareholders and the planet.Thats my sure fire recipe for attracting and keeping the right talent and eliminating employee turnover.Read more from Jason Jennings How to Hire Engaged Workers and Lifelong LearnersAuthor BioJason Jenningsis the author of THE REINVENTORS(May 2012 Portfolio) and bestselling author of Its Not the Big That Eat the Small Its the Fast That Eat the Slow Less Is More Think Big, Act Small and Hit the Ground Running. USA Today named him one of the three most in-demand business speakers in the world.