YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
In a competitive labor market, organizations across Springfield are discovering that attracting and retaining top talent requires more than competitive salaries. Two successful Drury University graduates, leading organizations with vastly different missions, have found that intentional culture development and strategic communication create the competitive advantages that money alone cannot buy.
Brandy Harris, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield, faces this reality daily. “It’s definitely a challenge,” Harris acknowledges about competing for talent. “When you see $14 or $15 an hour on a job posting, a lot of people are just going to scroll right past that. “Once we get people here, we have to train them, to give them the skills and tools necessary to be successful in the role,” she explains. “The challenge is when you see $14 or $15 an hour on a job posting, but you don’t really get to see the culture, the training and the rewards until you’re here.”
Karen Shannon, founder of Shannon Human Resources Consulting and longtime HR specialist, has helped organizations solve this visibility problem. “We tried to focus on total rewards,” Shannon explains. “Total rewards is more than just monetary compensation. You really want to focus on all the other advantages that you have in working in that organization.”
Her solution involves bringing culture to life before hiring decisions are made. “We have put together videos that candidates had the opportunity to see as we conducted interviews. In the video were different employees that talked about what a typical day consists of. What their best day looked like, and their worst day. You want to give people a feeling for what it is going to be like.”
Similarly, Harris strives to demonstrate what it means to work in her organization. “It’s important that people understand that even though it’s not the highest paying job, the culture is good, the flexibility is good when it can be, and you’re a part of something much bigger than yourself.”
Shannon further emphasizes that today’s workforce prioritizes professional development over other forms of compensation. “I was speaking at a conference and asked the demographics, who here rates professional development over compensation? A hundred percent of them raise their hand. The younger workforce values what you are going to do for them to help them make connections in the community, to help them build centers of influence, and to help them learn technical skills and soft skills.”
This shift requires organizations to think beyond traditional benefits. “Having an organizational development plan and having a personal development plan, I think is critical for attracting and retaining talent,” Shannon notes.
Both leaders emphasize transparent communication as fundamental to strong culture. Harris says she practices “radical transparency.” “The way that I am really trying to lead is with as much open communication as necessary and just a lot of transparency about where we are, where we are as an organization, and where I am as a leader,” Harris says.
Shannon also advocates for direct, consistent communication that bypasses traditional hierarchical filters. “There is such a huge benefit to having direct communication where everyone receives the same message rather than the old-fashioned way of communication where everyone goes back to their own team and communicates. We know that when we communicate in that style, sometimes the message gets changed or one manager may leave out one component that’s pretty critical.”
For organizations struggling to compete on salary alone, the message is clear. Intentional culture development, transparent communication, meaningful professional development opportunities, and thoughtful flexibility can create the workplace environment that attracts and retains talent even when wages may be better elsewhere.
In today’s competitive landscape, culture isn’t just nice-to-have. It’s the competitive advantage that enables organizations to build teams that choose mission over money.
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