Are you piercingly clear on your current direction?

When did your organisation last re visit your vision?

In such turbulent times it is easy to continue on with your old vision - which was probably set in a better climate - while we are busy getting on with the important things like successfully sailing out of a recession. Your existing team will question your leadership credibility if the purpose, mission and values of the business are no longer relevant - nor realistic. We talk about the importance of engaging the hearts and minds of our people to retain talent and step one of engagement is alignment. How can people align with our goals and direction if they are not clear? Given that 1 in 3 (CIPD survey 2010) or 1 in 4 (PWC survey 2010) of your current workforce would consider a move in 2010/11, its worth working on this as a key part of your talent retention strategy.

But what about talent attraction?

Having a piercingly clear vision is just as critical  if you want to attract the right talent to your organisation. Now companies are hiring again, the best new talent out there will be in demand and looking for the right company to align with, before they will even consider coming on board. They can only choose the right ship to join, if they know where its going and that its destination is where they want to go too. You should make it easy for them to find this out, so plan how, when and where you communicate your vision. Definitely on your website -  on the ‘join us’ page, but most importantly through your existing team and your external customers. What they say about your company will help to paint a compelling picture of what you are aspiring to become. The right people will then be able to readily recognise the right ship to board and you will be able to engage the right new talent to join your crew.

Posted by Fiona Lander