The Second War For Talent Part II
"We can't find any good people" is an all-too-common refrain from business leaders who choose to ignore two realities.
1. Complaining is not a strategy.
2. The Second War for Talent is well underway. No one serious about growth can afford to be Switzerland and remain neutral.
People who favour neutrality usually favour status quo.
When the subject turns to attracting and keeping top-notch people, sitting on the sidelines or stamping your feet about perceived injustices is the surest way to be left behind. The industry you compete in or the location from which you operate is irrelevant. What matters most is a leadership mindset reflected by an incredibly fast-growing company expanding its national footprint from a small Pennsylvania borough. A town of about 10,000, Mechanicsburg, PA, has the distinction of being the site of the northernmost engagement of the Civil War. It's where three-quarters of 80's hairband Poison learned their chops before finding fame on the Sunset Strip. And it's also earning a reputation as home base for what is quickly becoming 'America's Most Admired Home Improvement Company'.
There is nothing neutral about B.J. Werzyn. The founder and CEO of West Shore Home has deployed a well-designed brand strategy to grow the business ten-fold over the last three years. West Shore Home has emerged as a talent attraction juggernaut with a team of more than 1,500 people in 12 different states by giving people something to believe in. Werzyn and Chief Development Officer Josh Wood are prepared to freely disclose why they are winning this war and how you can do it as well – no matter where you are situated.
Get an up-close and personal view into The Second War For Talent – Part II on this segment of Leaders & Legends.
“You're never gonna make everyone love what you do. Just embrace the fans that do”- BRET MICHAELS
p.s… In 1990, Bret Michaels wrote a song about two people and the tragedies they encountered. One was a personal friend and bodyguard who fell victim to the rock & roll lifestyle of non-stop booze and drugs. The other was a cousin who had been wounded in Vietnam and the mental hell he was forced to endure. “Something to Believe In”, an indictment of false prophets, reached #4 on the Billboard Charts in 1990. Nearly twenty years later, Simon Sinek echoed that theme with his now famous TEDx Talk from Puget Sound, WA. In the video uploaded September 28, 2009, Sinek addressed the talent issue just before the 8:00 minute mark when he said:
“The goal is not just to hire people who need a job; it’s to hire people who believe what you believe. I always say that, you know, if you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money, but if they believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.”
B.J. Wersyn and his senior leadership team started taking Simon’s message seriously a few years back. They invested considerable management time and energy to deeply understand their own identity as a company and as a brand. While many competitors prefer to complain or just sit this whole thing out, West Shore Home has been eating everybody’s lunch. Their voracious appetite for growth is being fuelled by attracting the kind of people who already share their beliefs and values. Chief Development Officer Josh Wood says ‘anyone can claim they do quality home improvements and install a bathroom. No one else is asking bigger questions of their people such as ‘what are we capable of?”.
Organizations that don’t see how they need to start competing for talent are the ones destined for a rude awakening when they discover a short supply of top-notch talent is a limiting factor to their growth. West Shore Home has done the heavy lifting internally to gain incredible clarity on who they are as a company. They are fiercely protective of that identity and are winning because of it.
20-MINUTE DISCOVERY SESSION.
Throughout the course of the pandemic, we have made every effort to serve small to medium-size business owners with an open heart and no strings attached. That's why we allot a certain amount of time each month for readers like you to schedule a 20-Minute Discovery Session via ZOOM. If you are facing a business or branding challenge that you are not quite sure how to handle and need to bounce ideas and gain clarity, we’re only a click away.
YOUR BRAND. ON TRACK & WIDE-OPEN.
If now is the opportune time to differentiate, re-position and realign your organization, why not explore a metaphorical road trip called THE BRANDING HIGHWAY. Our in-person and virtual Executive Bootcamps serve as both journey and destination to help your brand emerge as an undeniable, undisputed, "Category of One". Impossible to describe, this unpredictable journey is best understood when you take a quick peek at this Video Overview:
“The most important victory is the one which has to arrive” ENZO FERRARI
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““What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive" ARNOLD PALMER