Destination Employer: Gerry Gadoury says Employee Retention can be as simple as E-F-G

Starting a business is a hard job, but even harder is running a business, expanding it, and actually building a successful business sustainably. Just the zeal, perseverance, and brilliance of the CEO is not enough for this; you need a team, members of which understand and believe in the vision of the product/service and work collaboratively towards making it a reality.

Given the incredible challenge of finding such people, when you do find them, it’s only logical that you would want to keep them working with you, at the peak of their performance, for a long time. And yet, nowadays this is one of the biggest issues companies are facing. Gone are the days when employees took one job and stayed in the company for decades. This is the age of being disengaged from the employer, frequent job changes, and “quiet quitting”. 

How do you have your team continue their employment with you for an extended period, while also avoiding these issues? A management industry veteran with over 25 years in the field, Gerry Gadoury, offers a simple solution: the EFG framework of leadership.

The real reason for employee attrition

If you have ever experienced the recruitment process, you know one of the most common questions asked is – “why did you leave your previous employment?” and the most common answers from around the world, across industries, are – the lack of opportunities for professional growth or bad management. Now, naturally, you ask – “what does professional growth mean to you?” The answer may vary among employees and across domains, but ultimately, it really all comes down to job satisfaction and career progression.

In “Destination Employer”, Gerry Gadoury introduces the concept of ”EFG Leadership Framework” which essentially focuses on E – Engagement, F – Fulfillment, and G – Growth of an employee within an organization. When all three come together, employees tend to perform better, have a positive outlook towards the company, and most importantly, are less likely to leave. As Gerry says, 

“The more internal growth opportunities, the less reason they (employees) have to take an external recruiter’s call”!

The EFG strategy for leadership

Before we delve into the steps to become a Destination Employer however, remember that it’s important to hire the right fit for the company – one who has the right set of skills for your open position as well as whose vision and culture matches the company’s. If it’s a poor fit, even an exceptional employee will likely leave the organization, without either party being at fault.

Coming back to E-F-G, it’s basically 3 simple questions a leader should ask themselves:

E – Engage: Do the employees feel heard and valued by the organization?

F – Fulfill: Do they like what they do or, Do they like what the company is doing?

G – Grow: Are they advancing in their skills/responsibilities?

In Gerry’s words,

“The more that we can intertwine the wants and needs they (employees) have as individual people, in both their personal lives and their careers, with the outcomes that we need from them professionally, the more likely they will perform at a high level and want to stay on the team.”

Now let’s get into the details of what these mean for you as a leader.

• Engagement:

Imagine a workplace where your boss/manager actually listens to your ideas and values your input. That’s what engagement in the professional space looks like. It’s about creating a space where everyone feels like they belong and their opinions carry weight.

Periodically chat with your team, listen to their ideas, and make sure they feel like their voice matters. All the ideas coming from an employee need not always be implemented, but they surely need to be considered and discussed in a respectful manner for the employee to feel heard and valued. 

As Gerry states, 

“The need to feel validated is a basic fundamental need for any person.” 

When an employee is engaged, they’re not just showing up for a paycheck – they’re showing up because they care about their job and/or what the company is trying to accomplish.

• Fulfillment:

Fulfillment is the main key to job satisfaction for an employee. It’s about finding meaning in what they’re doing and feeling like they’re making a difference.

As a leader, it falls on you to help your team find meaning in their work. Interact with your team, learn what they like or don’t like about their job, and figure out how it fits into the bigger picture of your company’s goals. 

Both the employee and the employer know that no job is all perfect and fun day in day out. However, knowing your team better aids you in ensuring they feel good more often than not in the company. When an employee finds fulfillment at the place where they are spending almost 1/3rd of their day every day, they’re more likely to give it their all and stay committed for the long run.

• Growth:

The meaning of growth in a company is leveling up – both personally and professionally. It’s about getting the chance to learn new skills, take on new challenges, and advance their career (ideally within your company!).

According to Gerry,

“Everybody needs a purpose and/or reasonable incentive for doing the job.”

Maybe the employee starts off as a junior developer and aspires to work their way up to a software architect or a team lead or even a manager. When the same organization offers opportunities for their ambition, the employee is more likely to stick around and see where the journey takes them. Plus, this can be included in the employee reviews, indicating measurable progress towards an employee’s goal, which will provide an additional boost for both the employee and the employer.

The Exit Interview

In Gerry’s experience, when an employee decides to leave, it’s often because one or more points of the EFG triad have broken down. Drawing from the previous example, if a junior developer is ready to advance to say, a team lead, but the position is unavailable inside the organization, they will likely seek opportunities elsewhere, and the leader, no matter how amazing, can do nothing about it at this stage. In fact, Gerry says it’s a good thing for the company if the employee leaves at this point because if they’re feeling stuck, it’s going to decrease their personal performance and drag down morale for others too.

However, there is a way you can use this situation to your advantage if you play your cards right in the exit interview. Aside from making sure that the employee leaves on good terms, you need to take one more step: add this now ex-employee to your organization’s “Alumni group”. If you have maintained your E-F-G while the employee was in the company, this extra step will likely foster a sense of familial camaraderie in them, which in turn will result in them speaking positively about the company, potentially leading to client/candidate referrals, testimonials, and positive reviews. Also, this leaves the door open for potential return opportunities when conditions are more suitable for their career pursuits.

Conclusion

Finding the right candidate for a business is hard, but it’s even harder when the best employees don’t give their best performance or leave too soon. Gerry Gadoury has launched his Destination Employer Program alongside his best-selling book to provide a hands-on experience of all the strategies for attracting, recruiting, as well as retaining the best people for any organization and avoiding this exact issue. It’s time to adopt new leadership strategies so that instead of being another short stint in a professional’s career journey, your company is seen as The Destination Employer that keeps the best talent in the industry for an impressively extended duration.