Great time today at our first Jeffersonian Lunch of 2023 with Sarah Lien Finnerty, Pam Didner, and Chris Quinn.
We went to Mookies New York Deli in Cary. Thanks to owner Ron Didner for the hospitality. Hat tip to Marcey Rader, CSP® as we had Marcey’s Brussel Sprouts as an appetizer.
Here was our topic:
How can leaders foster engagement and reinforce culture post-Covid with a distributed workforce?
My three takeaways were intention, trust, and onboarding.
First, you need to be intentional to make both the time and investment into your team members. For most companies, your people are your secret sauce and the key to your competitive advantage. I love this challenge to leaders by Chris, “Show us your P&L, will it show that investment?”
Second, you need to trust your team members. Treat them like they matter… and they will. Give them the flexibility to do their jobs. Pam shared that you develop trust with the team by showing that you trust them first.
Lastly, you need to get off on the right foot. New team members make a decision really early whether they’ll stay with the company for the long term. Sarah pointed out the need to pay attention to how you bring them into the company. You never get a second chance to make a solid first impression.