HBR > Mar 2007 > What It Means to Work Here
Every company needs a “signature experience” that sets it apart. By explicitly communicating what makes your firm unique, you can dramatically improve employee engagement and performance.
Tamara J. Erickson is the president of the Concours Institute, the research and education arm of professional services firm the Concours Group. She is based in Boston and has written several articles for HBR, including the McKinsey Award–winning “It’s Time to Retire Retirement” (March 2004).
Lynda Gratton is a professor of management practice at London Business School and the author of Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Organizations Buzz with Energy—and Others Don’t (Berrett-Koehler, 2007).
What distinguishes a company that has deeply engaged and committed employees from another one that doesn't? It's not a certain compensation scheme or talent-management practice. Instead, it's the ability to express to current and potential employees what makes the organization unique. Companies with highly engaged employees articulate their values and attributes through "signature experiences"--visible, distinctive elements of the work environment that send powerful messages about the organization's aspirations and about the skills, stamina, and commitment employees will need in order to succeed there. Whole Foods Market, for example, uses a team-based hiring and orientation process to convey to new employees the company's emphasis on collaboration and decentralization. At JetBlue, the reservation system is run by agents from their homes, a signature experience that boosts employees' satisfaction and productivity. Companies that successfully create and communicate signature experiences understand that not all workers want the same things. Indeed, employee preferences are an important but often overlooked factor in the war for talent. Firms that have engendered productive and engaged workforces address those preferences by following some general principles: They target potential employees as methodically as they target potential customers; they shape their signature experiences to address business needs; they identify and preserve their histories; they share stories--not just slogans--about life in the firm; they create processes consistent with their signature experiences; and they understand that they shouldn't try to be all things to all people. The best strategy for coming out ahead in the war for talent is not to scoop up everyone in sight but to attract the right people--those who are intrigued and excited by the environment the company offers and who will reward it with their loyalty.
- What separates great companies from merely good ones? Exceptional firms attract and retain the right people—employees who are excited by the company’s culture and values and who reward the organization with loyalty and stellar performance.
- How to get the right people on board? Don’t try to be all things to all employees, Erickson and Gratton advise. Instead, communicate your company’s signature experience—the distinctive practice that best conveys what it’s really like to work at your company and what makes your firm unique.
- Consider Whole Foods Market’s signature experience: team-based hiring. Employees in each department in every store vote on whether a new hire stays or goes after a four-week trial period. This experience sends a strong message about the company’s core values of collaboration and decentralization. It weeds out lone wolves—and attracts only people who share those values. Whole Foods’ reward? Highly engaged and productive workers in every team.
Harvard Management Update > Jul 2007 > What Is Your Company's Signature Experience?
Lauren Keller Johnson [Harvard Business IdeaCast]
This article is based on an interview Harvard Business Review's Cathy Olofson conducted with Tamara J. Erickson, co-author of "What It Means to Work Here" (Harvard Business Review, March 2007, #R0703G) and president of The Concours Institute, the Watertown, Mass.-based research and education arm of The Concours Group.
Your company's signature experience is what you do especially well; it's the odd or unique process that makes your company stand out in people's minds. The benefits of identifying your signature experience extend beyond customers. This article presents ways to clarify and communicate your company's signature experience--to the benefit of customers as well as to job candidates, who can easily determine whether you offer the kind of environment that excites them and that will win their loyalty.