Citizen Inc. Q&A: Don Harkey

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Citizen Inc. from SBJ Podcasts

Don Harkey, co-founder and CEO of People Centric Consulting Group LLC, is the guest for Citizen Inc., Episode 3, from SBJ Podcasts. The following Q&A is from the show, co-hosted by Springfield Business Journal’s Eric Olson and United Way of the Ozarks’ Greg Burris and recorded at ADsmith Studio.

Eric Olson: With what you’re hearing from CEOs and leaders of organizations, is this topic of corporate citizenship on their radar?
Don Harkey: I think there’s a topic on the radar that’s also on the radar of corporate citizenship and that is this idea of engagement – of how do we get enough people in our workforce? That is a big problem. Everyone knows the word pandemic. I don’t think a lot of people know the word “sansdemic.” We have a shortage of workers right now, and companies are in a battle. The talent war is over, and talent won. They won a long time ago. We’re going to have this battle until about 2030, when all the baby boomers retire. A lot of CEOs are talking right now of how do I find the people I need to fill the positions that I have. One of the ways to do that is community engagement. One of the primary drivers, it turns out, of engagement at work is how connected do you feel with the community? If I feel I’m connected with the community and my job allows me to make an impact on the community, I’m more likely to stick around and be a good employee. So, I don’t think that everybody is talking about it directly right now, but I think they’re going to be as companies start to figure this out.

Greg Burris: As soon as the labor curve inverted, now the laws of supply and demand dictate that if you’re going to survive and thrive over the next 10, 20, 25 years, you’re going to have to pay special attention to how you differentiate yourself as an employer and attract talent.
Harkey: Remember the days when we used to just pay people, and they used to come and they were just grateful for that? I say that tongue in cheek, (but) when I hear that, I’m thinking bad management. That’s missing an opportunity to unleash people for who they are; we’re hardwired to work toward a common purpose, something bigger than ourselves – which our community offers us.

Burris: It’s taken on a whole new level of importance.
Harkey: Yeah. Think of it like this: You’re in a campground, and a grizzly bear walks in. The grizzly bear is fast; they can run faster than you can. The grizzly bear is hungry and about to eat somebody. What’s your best strategy? You can’t outrun the grizzly bear. Your best strategy is to simply outrun the other campers. That’s what’s happening in the employment market right now. Not everybody is struggling to find people. My message to you is the campers aren’t very fast. Can you be a better employer than others? Yes, you can. You just have to be creative and think a little differently than you have in the past.
Olson: Let’s say I’m struggling to see the return on this investment, as an employer.
Harkey: The reason that we press it is because it impacts your bottom line. Gallup did a meta-analysis recently and they looked at companies in the top quartile of engagement versus the bottom quartile of engagement. And they found companies in the top quartile have 20% more profit, 21% more revenue, 50% less turnover, 70% fewer safety incidents. The bottom-line key metrics that you would look at as a company are heavily driven by how engaged your employees are.

Olson: As a company leader, small-business owner, you ask your staff what they’d like to do, and there’s nothing. Does that ever happen?
Harkey: Yeah, it does. As a leader, I’d listen to that, too. There’s probably a reason. I’m going to throw another management statistic at you, to show where we’re at in the United States: 69% of managers say they are afraid to talk to their employees about anything. So, managers don’t talk to their employees, other than surface level. So, that means you’re not hearing what they’re passionate about, what they’re struggling with, and you can’t customize something that’s really cool for them to have engagement opportunities. If you are having regular check-ins with your employees, you will hear stories that will give you some insights about what people are passionate about.