Students selected more than 20 companies to report on. The most popular Company by far was Westjet; one of Canada’s newest and fastest growing domestic and increasingly international airlines. Approximately 20% of students chose Westjet. Honourable mention also goes to Indigo Books & Music and Shoppers’ Drug Mart, while Diavik Diamond Mine, in Canada’s north, which only got one write-up, is worthy of mention, based on its stellar organizational practices.
Where students rated a Company highly, and they did so, unanimously, in the case of the aforementioned companies, there were clear and consistent indicators as to what made these Companies so great. They included:
1. Positive Legends: Many of the students had a personal connection to the Company, through family, friends, or their broader professional network. They shared with me, stories about difficult situations that had been well handled by the Company. That the Company took the tougher but (from an employee perspective), fairer, kinder, more generous road in addressing the situation stayed with the contact and got shared with my students and likely with many others. There is no way of quantifying the pay-back from such actions on the part of employers, but we know how quickly negative perceptions of companies translate into lost sales; revenues; and market share, and my gut tells me that the positive perceptions have a similarly quick and substantive pay-back as well.
2. Leadership: The first consequence of failed leadership is employee disenchantment. The tangible signs often come later in the form of lower share prices; higher regretted employee turnover; and poor customer relationships. We are seeing solid evidence of this these days in the Financial Services and Automotive sectors. How notetworthy therefore, that in the case of the companies cited above, leadership is viewed so positively, and considered a core strength of the organization. Leaders were reported on by my students as being highly ethical; visionary and inspiring; visible and accessible to employees; unafraid to roll up their sleeves; not taking themselves too seriously; and truly understanding and reflecting this in their employment practices, that their people are key to their success.
3. Well thought out People & Business Strategies and Processes: In all cases, students commented on the thoroughness of design and execution around Company programmes relating to business planning (e.g. MBO/S.M.A.R.T.); total rewards; career management; and CSR. The students looked at the business success of the companies first and foremost, and they are all successful, and then looked at how the people management practices of the organizations ALIGNED with and contributed to the business success.
None of the companies though are perfect, and students were asked to write about challenges that they perceived the organizations were facing or would face down the road. Predictably perhaps, students wrote about the current economic recession; globalization; and increased competition as rating the highest concern. Not so predictably perhaps though, the students cited no leadership concerns; no cultural concerns; no challenges in terms of attracting or retaining scarce talent; and seemed confident in these organizations’ ability to continue to thrive and prosper.
As your Company continues to grow and look for talent over the longer term, it’s worth thinking about how you can get the same positive share of mind that my students have reflected about the above companies. There are companies out there that survey College and University students to know who they’re looking to work with when they graduate. Whether you’re looking to hire 1 or 100 over the next five years, by ensuring that you build positive legends through your current employees; demonstrate consistent ethical leadership, and invest in innovative and aligned business and people practices, you’ll be equipped to and will win from an organizational effectiveness perspective. And the bottom line is based on having more engaged and productive employees than do any of your competitors.