Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023 - 13

BUILDING
LEADERS
SAM SHRIVER &
MARSHALL GOLDSMITH
UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES
REQUIRE ALIGNED RESPONSES
Two terms that have worked their way,
with increasing regularity, into common
vocabulary the last couple of years are
" unprecedented " and " aligned " :
* Unprecedented: Sort of a catchall
descriptor for the challenges leaders
find themselves facing these days.
In general, these challenges are the
product of disruptive change and everincreasing
complexity.
* Aligned: Realistically, the only effective
response strategy for all things
unprecedented. Alignment is a function
of different people performing different
functions at different levels of an
organization with a unified purpose.
COMMUNICATION AND
VISIBLE SUPPORT
FROM THE C-SUITE
HAS NEVER BEEN AT A
HIGHER PREMIUM.
Consider a familiar leadership challenge
that is presenting itself with
unprecedented intensity: employee
turnover. In the last 24 months, a
record number of employees actively
participated in The Great Resignation.
A large percentage of those who didn't
opted instead to become " quiet quitters. "
What to do?
QUANTIFY THE CHALLENGE AND
TARGET THE ROOT CAUSE
A company we work with recently initiated
its aligned response to unprecedented
turnover by asking (and more importantly,
answering) these three questions:
1. Who is leaving? Unfortunately, the
most glaring attrition was coming from
their most technically skilled front-line
employees. The company established
five levels of proficiency for this role,
and the overwhelming majority of the
people leaving were level four and five
technicians. They had been trained,
developed expertise, gained valuable
experience and were going elsewhere.
2. What is the cost? The company
determined that every time a highlevel
technician walked out the door
and was replaced by someone who
was still completing their development,
the cost was $100K. That added up to
millions of dollars in lost value.
3. Why were they leaving? In a word,
leadership. They felt
like pawns
in somebody else's game of life.
They did not feel connected to the
purpose of the company, listened to
or appreciated.
START AT THE TOP
No " new news " here, right? But consider
that transparent communication and
visible support from the C-suite has
never been at a higher premium.
The unprecedented nature of the
challenge needs to be transparently
acknowledged to include the identified
root cause as well as " the plan. " And
the plan needs to visibly demonstrate
the commitment of the C-suite to the
aligned response.
In the case of the company losing the
tenured technicians, leadership training
was identified as an important part
of the plan - with one intentionally
emphasized caveat. The company did
not have a training problem. They had
a business problem, and training was
going to kick-start the aligned response.
The first group through the training? The
C-suite and all key executives!
EVERYBODY IN THE POOL!
Traditionally, leadership training has been
almost exclusively reserved for people
managers. Those individuals were sent
off to learn while " followers " remained
behind. The resultant effect was that pullthrough
and impact were largely left to the
discretion of each trainee.
An
aligned strategy expressly
intended to solve an unprecedented
business problem pursues an inclusive
path. In the case of the company
tackling technician turnover, everyone
in the company participated. But,
most importantly, level four and
five
technicians
participated
right
alongside their supervisors and district
managers. Real problems were the
focus of real discussions between the
people who could make real change.
Will turnover be eliminated? Of course
not. Will it be significantly reduced? We
believe there is a very strong probability
and will report back in the fall issue of this
column in that regard. In the meantime,
if and when you find yourself using the
word unprecedented to describe an
emerging challenge, we would strongly
encourage you to also use the term
aligned as you formulate solutions.
Marshall Goldsmith is the world
authority in helping successful leaders
get even better. Sam Shriver is the
executive vice president at The Center
for Leadership Studies. Email Marshall
and Sam.
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