The Tail is Wagging the Dog

“We struggle to find/keep/engage/energize great talent anymore.” In nearly every industry and sector, this is the number one challenge leaders share with me. When asked what they think seems to be driving the issue, their answers are all over the map:

“It’s a competitive labor market. We can’t pay as much as the competition.”

“We have to have employees back in the office now to maintain our culture.”

“People don’t want to work hard.”

“Employees just leave and we don’t know why.”

Since November 2021, in the U.S. more than 4 million people voluntarily quit their job each month while there are consistently more than 10 million open positions. Even with the increasing number of layoffs occurring in many industries, there are more jobs available than workers opting in. 

Compounding this new set of talent challenges: companies who fared better during the last few years poach incredible talent from their competitors by offering them more generous compensation and flexibility. And with so many open positions and dwindling talent pool, employees now have the upper hand when it comes to being truly selective about choosing a company versus waiting for someone to give them a job. They continue to gain clarity on the importance of where they work, what they do for a living, and how work adds value to their lives beyond simply collecting a paycheck.

I’m reminded of my time working for Kinship Center, a truly remarkable nonprofit organization headquartered along the Central Coast of California. They are known nationally for their work helping children, most of whom are adopted from foster care, find permanent, loving families. The co-founders, Carol Biddle and Carol Bishop (aka, The Carols) built the organization from scratch with a tiny investment and a goal to create a world-class organization that creates amazing outcomes for children who were neglected, abandoned, and abused.

Some of my tenure at Kinship Center occurred during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and money was extremely tight. Most nonprofits were struggling to make ends meet, though we were fortunate to have community partners and active donors who helped keep the organization afloat. However, that meant slow hiring and few (if any) raises or bonuses. The majority of our resources went directly to support our work with children and families. As an executive, I remember how difficult of a season it was navigating that extremely tight financial situation.

And yet, we employed one of the most tenured groups of employees compared to similar agencies and the local county child welfare organizations. Our social workers and clinicians knew they could walk across the street to work for the county and instantly make significantly more money. Their caseload volume never seemed to plateau, and yet people stayed. Happily, they stayed. Whenever anyone asked how Kinship Center accomplished what other organizations could not, to a person we’d all say the same thing: “it’s because of the Carols.” 

You see, The Carols didn’t just crack the code on how to create amazing outcomes for children and families, but they also cracked the code on how to build an organization that could withstand one of the worst financial crises that organization ever faced. They knew that finding and keeping the best employees had nothing to do with salary, benefits, and vacation days. 

The magic they created came from how they treated each of their employees every single day. Hard work, discretionary effort, and going above and beyond for the families we served never went unnoticed, or unrecognized. The Carols would share stories about our staff to anyone who would listen, and ensure our board, donors, community, and others in the field knew where to attribute credit and praise. They found ways to celebrate small victories and personal milestones that were meaningful to our team. Most of all, they found ways to help people grow as professionals in their field so that whether they stayed for 4 years or 40, they could point to development opportunities that contributed to their long-term success. 

You see, The Carols knew they couldn’t compete with other places on salaries, or guarantee that the workload would be easy. They did not have big professional development budgets or fancy bonus packages and perks. What they lacked in those resources they made up for with genuine leadership. They created a culture focused on pouring into employees where it counts most (ping pong tables and free snacks were not in the budget!) and knew the rest would take care of itself. 

Employees aren’t motivated, engaged, or want to stay in organizations that don’t value their contributions. If discretionary effort is neither recognized nor rewarded - or if you expect that people will operate at that pace without end in sight - employees will leave for greener pastures. 

The idiom of the tail wagging the dog stems from the idea that the control of something large or powerful shifted to something deemed less important or powerful. In the current talent market, it may seem like the tail is wagging the dog, as employees drive the trends, not businesses. Leaders who run their organization like The Carols did, the ones who aren’t experiencing mass talent exodus, know that employees were always the most valuable asset. Employees were the dog all along.