Craig Groeschel - Creating a Workplace Your Team Doesn't Want To Leave
For those of you in any type of leadership role, if you've led for any length of time, you understand that excessive turnover is one of the greatest enemies to organizational health, to profit, and to ministry impact. Anytime your team members are turning rapidly, this slows down. Any kind of organizational progress is incredibly expensive financially, and it's even more costly to morale, to your team dynamics, and to your organizational objectives. So, what we wanna do is we wanna try to remember, what do our people, what do our team members really want in a job? If we want to retain them, we need to understand, what do they value? What's important to them? What are they looking for in their job?
And I wanna tell you, it's important to note that what your team is looking for today is likely a little bit different than it was two years ago, and we wanna talk about those differences. So, I wanna remind you of what your team members want in their role. Now, outside of the obvious, they're gonna want fair compensation, they're gonna want benefits, time off, all that kinda stuff. Outside of the obvious, it really boils down to four basics, and we're gonna talk about those four basics, and then we're gonna talk about three newer wants that your team wants in this day that's gonna be different than they did a few years ago. So, what are the four basics?
Number one is, they want a mission to accomplish. They want a culture to embrace. They want a place to grow. And they want people to enjoy. Let me say it again. They want a mission to accomplish. They wanna use their gifts. They wanna enjoy the place that they work. They want to have purpose. They want to contribute They want a mission to accomplish. They wanna know that their work is meaningful and contributing to something that matters.
Number two is they want a culture to embrace. They want value alignment. They don't wanna use their hard work, their talents, to contribute to something that they really don't agree with. They want a culture to embrace.
Number three is, they want a place to grow. They wanna get better, they wanna be promotable, they wanna be able to grow and influence. They want a place to grow. And they want people to enjoy. In other words, they don't wanna just do a job they like, they wanna do a job they like with people that they like.
And these are constants that we wanna have at the front of our mind when we're creating a culture. These are the basics. But in a post-pandemic world, many employees, they have what I would say would be three new wants, and I wanna focus on the three, and we're gonna spend the most time on the last one because I believe in our culture today, it's the most important. What are the new things that many employees want? Well, one of the new things is, many want flexibility when and where they work. Many want more flexibility when and where they work. They want flexible hours. A lot of people like working from home, some people don't wanna come into the office all the time or at all. And there's different opinions on this, so I know in different parts of the world, you're facing different opportunities and different challenges.
My personal opinion is that there's value in working together, but when we work together, we may need to understand that people want more flexibility. The bottom line is that people are coming in with higher expectations in flexibility today than they did before. Is that right or wrong? That's up for other people to decide, but we need to acknowledge that they're coming in with this desire. Another new want that many people have is this, is that honestly, many people don't wanna work as hard as they did before. They just don't. Years ago, the grind was in, and people would say now the grind is out. And you'll read a lot about quiet quitting. What is that? Well, it depends on the article you read. Some would say they just want a paycheck, but they don't want the hassle of caring about their job or working hard.
In fact, some people today wanna do as little as possible, go under the radar, keep getting a paycheck, and it's kind of like quiet quitting. They're not leaving, but they're not passionate. They're checked out. Some people, they just don't wanna work long hours. And you may argue with that. You may say that's stupid. Whatever your opinion is, you need to know that's the mindset that a lot of people have today. Now, though most wouldn't ever admit this out loud, the third thing I wanna talk about and spend the most time here, I don't know anybody who's gonna say out loud what I'm about to tell you, but I'm absolutely and completely convinced that this is one of the biggest needs that your team members have today, and that is this, many of our team members just want to feel settled. They're not gonna say it, but internally, even though they may not have the language, they're crying out for it. They just wanna feel settled.
And I wanna spend more time on this point because it's really, really, really important. You have a lot of people right now that are all over in their lives. There's chaos and they just wanna feel settled. And the reason is, is because a lot of people, they're still living with pockets of turmoil in their life. In fact, some people would tell you, and they might be right, they'll say like they they have PTSD from the last couple of years. A lot of employers would mock that sentiment, but it's important to take notice. Many of your team members, they're still living with a variety of very difficult and complicated situations. They've got difficult situations in their family. Some of your team members, they've completely lost their relational support system.
There's division over all of the issues that we know we've been talking about for the last couple of years, maybe division even in their marriage or in their family. They are, right now, dealing with very, very complex issues with their children that were not issues 5, 6, 7 years ago and it's weighing on them like crazy. Because of all the extenuating circumstances, a lot of your team members right now, they have marriage problems. I'm convinced that there are more marriage problems today than three years ago. And when they have a problem at home, that often creates a problem at work.
There are people right now in this crazy economy with interest rates rising, with inflation soaring, they've got financial struggles. Their income is not keeping up necessarily with their increase of expenses. There are people with health fears. You have team members battling with depression. Good team members who were healthy three years ago aren't emotionally healthy today. They've got anxiety and other mental health issues, and the list goes on and on and on. And so the reality is, for many of your team members right now, very little feel settled in their life. They don't feel stable, and they would love for someone to help them feel settled.
So leader, team lead, whatever you are, this is just my suggestion, and it won't be true for all of you, and it won't be true everywhere, but in so many cases, in order for you to care for your team members and in order for you to retain your team members, I would suggest that you stop assuming that most of your team is good. For years, I just kind of thought if they're not complaining, if they're not quitting, if they're showing up, if they're smiling, they're probably okay, they're good. I would suggest that you do not assume that most of them are good. I would suggest that you assume that most of them need settling. This is so important. Assume that most of them need a little extra care right now. And if you're wrong, and most of 'em are good, you haven't lost anything. But if you're wrong assuming they are good when they're not, you could lose a lot more than you realize.
So, let's talk about it and let's go deep. How do you settle your team when so many people feel unsettled? I'm gonna give you some thoughts. The first one is, as often as possible, schedule one-on-one time and listen. As often as you can, spend one-on-one time and listen. We have now 44 campus pastors, that's a lot of campus pastors, and I think I've talked to every single one of them in the last two weeks, just brief one-on-one time. And what I want you to do is I want you to listen to what's being said and I also want you to listen to what's not being said. Both of these things are really important because sometimes, what you don't hear is as important as what you do here.
For example, they might say some of the right words that you wanna hear. Like they might say, you know, like, "Yeah, I'm good. I like my job. I'm happy here. My family's okay or whatever". But you may not feel any passion from them or if there's a lack of emotional buy-in, you wanna watch for that. And you don't wanna come in blaming them if they're not healthy or they're not emotionally bought in. What you wanna do is you wanna come in with an attitude to help them, to serve them, to love them. And remember, when you're talking to your team members, some of them, they're very nervous when they're around you and they're gonna try to tell you what they think you wanna to hear, and that's why you wanna work to listen between the lines. Listen to what they're saying and listen to what they're not saying. Look for tone, watch body language.
And you're not there to try to catch them, you're there to love them and to help them. And pay attention to the kind of questions that you ask. What tends to happen is a lot of supervisors, they ask questions about, how's it going with your goals? Tell me about your objectives. You might even think you're asking a good question like, tell us what you think about our company culture, or what do you think about compensation, or benefits, or whatever. But I want you to remember what they want. What do they want? They want a mission to accomplish. They want a culture to embrace. They wanna place to grow. They want people to enjoy. And so, what you wanna do is ask open-ended questions and see if your organization is helping meet those needs and wants in your people.
So here's some questions you wanna ask, and you can jot these down and we'll put these in the Leader Guide. You wanna ask is, hey, what do you love most about what you do? It's an open-ended question and you're getting into their values where they're most satisfied. Then you wanna ask them, hey, what frustrates you most? And what you're gonna do there is you might find out about some problems that you don't even know exists, some things that are very easy to solve. This is a good question to ask later in the sequence of questions once you've established some trust, you wanna ask, hey, what do I do that frustrates you? This is really important. And they may not be tempted to tell you, but if they're not just say, tell me one thing.
And what you're trying to do is sometimes, you're inadvertently or unintentionally doing some things that are slowing them, frustrating them, making it more difficult for them, and it shows them that you really care. And if they communicate clearly, you may be able to fix a problem. What do I do that frustrates you? Here's another question you wanna ask is, what could I do to better support you? Listen, your team, they're supporting you all the time and they need to know that you care about them. You're gonna wanna listen. What can I do to better support you? Ask them this question. If you could change one thing here, what would you change? It's a powerful question.
What you're doing is you're giving them permission to lead up. You're giving them the ability to help contribute to the direction of the organization, which creates emotional buy-in. And you could make things better just by listening. If you could change one thing here, what would you change? Ask them this question. Where do you feel that you have more to offer? We're not just asking, do you feel that you have more to offer, but where do you feel? And you may find where they feel underutilized, where they have more resources where they can make the organization better. And then this last question is really important. Ask, what else is on your mind that I haven't asked about? And the way I ask this question is really important.
Notice I didn't say, is there something else on your mind? Because that's a yes no question. What you wanna do is say, what else is on your mind? You're gonna assume it. And so, you're trying to pull out of them anything that they can give you for you to help serve them better and create an environment that they're gonna love in their organization. This is so, so, so important. Once you've heard what they're saying, I would say repeat it back to them. And what you're doing is when you repeat it back to them, so you're saying, here's a suggestion. So you're saying, here's where you feel undervalued. What you're doing is you're showing that you heard them, you understand them, and you value them.
How do you help them feel settled? You wanna schedule one-on-one time and you wanna listen. Number two, when you can make a change that helps your team, make it. Anytime you know something that could help create a better environment for them to be successful, fulfilled, and contribute, make the change. You might change some benefits or add some benefits. You might become more flexible in hours. You might change a reporting structure. Or one of the great things you can do is simplify a process. Sometimes we make it so difficult for employees to get anything done because we created layers of bureaucracy.
You may just get them a piece of equipment that may change their game, or let them take off an hour early to pick up a kid from school could be a game changer because the way schools are now it's making it really, really difficult on our team members. So, when you hear a need and you can meet it, meet it. There was a couple team members in my office. I had no idea. They sit at their desk all day and they just would prefer to stand. And when we found out they wanted standing desks, we got them standing desks. And they are the happiest two standers I have ever seen in my life. And one of 'em is sitting right by me right now. Know you can make a change, make a change.
Number one, schedule one-on-one time and listen. Number two, when you can make a change that helps your team, make the change. And number three, this is kind of tricky, but I'm gonna say it. Be prepared to let some people move on. Or I'll even say it this way. Be prepared to let or occasionally help some of your team members move on. And this sounds harsh or uncaring, but it's not. We have to understand that some turnover is always natural. Some turnover is actually healthy. People have changing family dynamics, they have different growth goals, they have new professional opportunities, and on and on. So you wanna be prepared to let some people move on. And whenever someone is miserable, their misery tends to spread.
And so, if you really try to help them be healthy, that's your first goal. But if you can't help them be healthy, then let them pursue their health somewhere else. And what you wanna do is be prepared to help others see when it's actually time for them to move on. Let's talk about it. If you have a team member that's toxic and rebellious, or apathetic, they're divisive, they're disengaged, they're not carrying their weight, your first goal is to help them be successful. How do you do this well?
Well, let's talk about how you coach them. First and foremost, you want them to know that you are for them. So, when you're coaching them toward improvement, you're like not some mean boss who's correcting them. In your heart, your biggest win is to help them be successful. And so, you want to let them know, I believe in you. I want you to be successful. But you tell them very directly there's some things that are gonna need to change. And what you wanna do is you wanna clearly state the problem and you wanna clearly state the solution. Here's the problem and here's what's expected. And you wanna tell them exactly, specifically what you need to see and by when.
And so, your goal is to give them a clear pathway or a plan to succeed. Tell them, this is exactly what needs to happen and by what time. And as often as possible, give them something that's measurable. You might say like, hey, sales revenue needs to be up by 5% in the next 60 days. That's specific and measurable. Or all emails need to be returned within 24 hours. That's specific and it's measurable. Now, there'll be some things that are not measurable. Like you may have some team members with a bad attitude and you're gonna tell 'em you want a better attitude. Or you might say you need to come prepared to a meeting. What you wanna do is you wanna be clear of whatever that looks like and clear of what it doesn't look like. If you're coaching on attitude, you might just tell them, hey, you got a sulky body language. Or you're always asking critical questions instead of solution-oriented questions.
And so, you'll tell them, here's the type of questions you wanna ask. Whatever it is, you're gonna be as specific and as clear as you can, and your only goal is to help them rise to the occasion and thrive. Then this is really, really important, you wanna let them know clearly and lovingly if they do not hit the target, we're gonna need to make a change. And then you simply keep your word. You do everything you can to help them. You celebrate if they get there. And if they can't get there, you help them move on. If you do not do this and you tolerate unacceptable performance, bad attitudes, a toxic mindset, if you tolerate that on your team, then that team member is no longer the problem, you are the problem. And you have no idea how much credibility you lose if you don't address people and help them improve or allow them to leave.
So what are we gonna do? We're gonna try to help people feel settled because we care for them and their life is in chaos. So, we're gonna schedule one-on-one time and listen. When you can make a change to help them, you're gonna make the change. Number three is you're gonna be prepared to let some people move on, and some people you may even help them move on. And then number four is you're just gonna lead. Just lead. What do we know about today?
One of the biggest reasons that many people feel unsettled today is because the last couple of years have taught them not to trust. You've watched different news sources, you listen to different reports, and people are much, much more skeptical today than they were before. Good people who were totally bought into your vision before are now maybe not trusting your leadership. So what you wanna do is you wanna help people settle. You wanna help give them a reason to trust, and you want to give them a place that's easy to love.
How do you create trust? How do you give them a place to buy into? Well, you just tell the truth. You don't hold back. You're very, very direct. You're very, very transparent. You cast a compelling vision. You care about people. You set goals. You celebrate their wins. You reward the winners. You create systems. You create a great culture. You brag on your people. You promote those who are promotable. You pay generously. You take ground together. You make money if you're in business. You make a difference no matter what. And you have a blast doing this is because this is what great leaders do.
So, to help them feel settled, when they're hurting right now, they feel tense, you want them to know that you care about them. They matter so much. Why? Because your team members, they are not a commodity to be leveraged. They are people to be loved. And when you love them, when you care about them, when you're a you-oriented leader, not a me-oriented leader, together, you can create something that's really, really special.
Your team members, they really wanna know that you care about them for who they are more than for what they produce. They're not just here to contribute to your goals, you care about them as people. And when you care about them as people, you don't just care about what happens at your office, but you care about them when they leave your office and go to their families, and that creates a culture that people will love. What do we know? You will never be a leader that people love to follow if you aren't a leader that truly loves people. One more time, let it sink in. You will never, ever, ever be a leader that people love to follow if you aren't a leader that truly loves people.