ENTREPRENEUR TO MILLIONAIRE MYTHS #5 – BEST WAY TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENT AND EMPLOYEES – THROW MORE MONEY AT THEM! – A LOT MORE!

Attracting and retaining employees, especially those with proven talent, has quickly become the greatest nightmare (one level higher than the top challenge) and an all-consuming obsession for business leaders everywhere.  But what they are doing to solve the problem is not helping – it’s backfiring.  The common “fix it” money-based approach is setting the wrong precedent, eating profits, and destroying business wealth.  Even worse, this knee-jerk thinking never solves the root cause of insufficient attraction and poor retention. 

Over the course of this morning, I was interviewed by four different radio stations across the country.  The host’s question and main topic was regarding the great “talent exodus” that experts are predicting and how to solve it. Employers can’t find workers because many are leaving after working remote and refuse to come back, retiring, or switching careers. This headcount headache is expected to reach catastrophic levels in the months ahead.

That work shortage is causing a “gold rush” for not only proven talent but even low-wage employees to fill entry-level positions.   Cash is being thrown out like drunken Senators (didn’t want to disparage sailors) to entice candidates to even show up for interviews. There are bonuses for hiring, perks for working (I can’t believe I had to write that), and more cash incentives for staying for a specific length of time.  

But sadly, too many executives are falling back on two classic but flawed strategies to solve almost every business challenge – throw money or bodies at the problem. In this case, since lack of bodies is the problem, throw money at them is the default.  However, if you think you can solve the “we need more people now” problem with money – and more money – then it will be invaluable to you and your company to learn a different but proven way to attract the best talent who never wants to leave. 

In this article, I want to share with you research and data from over forty years of helping clients and companies all over the world get the best talent to come to them – even in tough times.  Using a non-financial approach, many of our clients have won the labels of “Best Places To Work” in industries where talent is leaving.  And some organizations have achieved zero unplanned turnover (that means talent didn’t leave for years at a time). 

Are you following this failed “you have to spend money to make money” old school thinking?  Let’s change that and protect your profit line. 

BACKGROUND OF THROWING MONEY OUT TO ATTRACT PEOPLE

There are several reasons that leaders fall into the “only way to win the war for people is by fighting with dollars” mode.  Let’s explore a few reasons why weak leaders use this approach.  

The first reason is because…, wait for it…, IT WORKS!  Money is a big motivator.  For most people, it’s a necessity to pay the bills, and money gets attention.  In a crowd, in public, try this – throw a single dollar (which buys almost nothing) on the ground, and watch adults knock each other over trying to pick it up. 

Second, everyone else is throwing cash, so it must be the right thing to do. If your competitor is offering X dollars for a position or per hour, then you must offer X+.  Where does that end? 

Third, it’s ̶ easy. And non-leaders love easy. It doesn’t take any real work as almost anyone in business can add a dollar more. Don’t laugh.  This last reason is the main reason the myth persists. 

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW

Our research with companies, over the years, of helping them attract and secure tens of thousands of hires shows that money, dollars, and cash are only incentives for a certain type of worker. But don’t think I’m talking about low-level or entry-level positions.  Certain people, at all levels are too motivated by money – the salary or hourly.  But they aren’t the people you want.  Let me repeat…

EMPLOYEES HIGHLY MOTIVATED BY MONEY ARE NOT THE PEOPLE YOU WANT!

As you read Chapter 15 in my book Entrepreneur To Millionaire (McGraw Hill, 2021), about Talent Optimization, you will learn why you should only be hiring a certain “type” of the individual – at all levels and all positions. And it is not those who are motivated by “what they are paid” but by “how they are rewarded.”  

In almost all cases, “employees” are attracted by money, but the only type to hire is attracted by “how they are truly recognized for performance.”  What attracts and motivates one will not attract and motivate the other. And even if you do attract someone because you offered great money, you will probably still have a retention problem because there is always someone who will offer more. Always. 

HOW TO ATTRACT TOP TALENT, NOT EMPLOYEES

If money – and more money – isn’t the answer to attracting and retaining and even more importantly, optimizing their production, what is? We have interviewed and exit-interviewed thousands.  Here is the shocking thing we discovered.  We separated people leaving into two groups.  Those employees who were replaceable and those who weren’t.  Although the most common answer for leaving was for more money, the majority of those employees who the leader was upset about losing said privately that money wasn’t really the reason, it was about 3 or 4th down on the list. 

THE TALENT YOU MUST HIRE WANTS THIS ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE

Top talent “wants to be part of winning.”  They want to be part of and play a role in winning – winning business, winning contracts, winning against competitors, and winning leading-edge projects.  Talent can “feel the winning vibe” – strong or weak. What is your company vibe? Is your system winning and designed to attract and retain the best talent? Contact us and we will assess it for you. Winners want to be with winners – but most companies are not winning they are grinding. 

WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW – BUILD A COMPANY THAT HAS TALENT COMING TO YOU

If you are serious about wanting to attract and hire top talent throughout your firm without burning money or wasting budget, then you must work on transforming your enterprise into “a winning system”.  You leaders must understand what winning is and how to do it. 

What is the measurement of a winning business? It’s a company that is creating business wealth.  Meaning generating more sales, revenue, and profits – consistently beating the competition – while having fun and using the least amount of effort doing it.  The book Entrepreneur To Millionaire provides that four-phase roadmap to creating a winning system and optimizing performance.  It is a proven methodology to make the most money possible without spending more money doing it – that’s winning. 

In your next interview, instead of offering more money, you can just ask the candidate this question.  “What is more important to you?  A little more money now or being part of a winning system with a better up-side”.  If the candidate takes time to think about it, the interview is over. 

BOOK INFORMATION

Is Your Business Growing or Creating Wealth?

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AUTHOR BACKGROUND

Kent Billingsley is the founder and president of the Revenue Growth® Company, LLC (TRGC). He is a published author, international keynote speaker, and business transformation expert. He has become America’s Revenue Growth® Architect by helping thousands of entrepreneurs and CEOs (representing over a million employees) generate several billion in new sales, as well as tens of billions in new revenue and profits for large corporations. He has personally designed, built, transformed, and turbocharged several thousand organizations in 36 countries. Over the last 20 years, his proprietary content and trademarked programs have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and employees become millionaires and multimillionaires by “creating wealth” inside their companies. He can be reached at [email protected].