Emerge Victorious In The Second War For Talent
It’s January of 2018 on a cold western Pennsylvania morning and B.J. knows he has a problem.
Not an immediate here-and-now problem, but one he can see clearly in the distance like massed armies taking their positions on the fields of nearby Gettysburg. He knows that acquiring top-notch talent is going to be a critical issue if he is to bring his vision to fruition with his already successful home renovation company.
At his monthly peer advisory group meeting that morning, a speaker arrives from the Great White North with a message that makes B.J. lean forward and listen with curiosity. Clarity begins replacing what’s been a blindspot. He starts making copious notes. Decides right then and there that brand strategy is something worthy of further exploration; especially as it relates to talent acquisition.
“The source of our greatest problems are blindspots; things we can’t see even if they are standing right in front of us. One of the best ways to reveal blindspots is simply to lengthen your time horizon and think the longer term”.
The Second War For Talent was declared in March of 2020 with the onset of the global pandemic. While the battle rages on, many leaders have lost focus and become swept up in a daily mental dance with doom and gloom, economic uncertainty, polarizing politics along with massive generational and cultural shifts. Denial, complaining, arrogance, willful ignorance, or feeling helpless are not sound strategies, however, to solve the very real issues that relate to attracting good, hard-working people. B.J. Werzyn and his leadership group identified the problem a few years back and found a way forward. Taking full advantage of a world filled with breath-taking technology and robust digital platforms, West Shore Home is demonstrating what leaders need to know about what it takes to win right now with recruitment and retention while enjoying phenomenal growth.
Originally posted a year ago, this video essay is still relevant as it challenges any leader on their organization’s state of combat readiness. See what’s still required to triumph in The Second War For Talent on this segment of Leaders & Legends.
“The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand” SUN TZU
p.s… If you genuinely want to compete and win in this Second War For Talent, several questions need to be put on the strategic planning table right now. Gather your fellow executives, turn the boardroom into a war room and start asking:
1. “If we wanted to attract the best talent in the world, what would we need to be and portray to be worthy of their time and consideration?”
2. Do we have absolute clarity on our true identity as a business and brand?
3. Where is the digital proof to support those claims? Are we front and center with our beliefs and values comparable to West Shore Home?
“Start With Why” author Simon Sinek has observed that when people in the workplace are emotionally invested, they want to contribute. In his original TED-X talk in 2009 in a room with 50 other folks in Puget Sound, Simon pointed out the universal secret to inspiring otherwise ordinary people to become deeply and extraordinarily invested. Engaging with their hearts, not just heads and hands.
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who BELIEVE what you BELIEVE.”
West Shore Home is a shining example of a company that has done exactly what Simon says. They have clearly established a brand identity based on their true beliefs and values in a way that actually repels those who don’t share their gung-ho spirit and attitude. By the same token, their clearly stated beliefs also magnetically attract those who are just itching to jump in and share their home improvement foxholes. CEO, B.J. Werzyn, and a crack team that includes Chief Development Officer Josh Wood have expended considerable time answering these all-important questions crucial to cultural alignment and the role it plays in long-term success. Josh explained, “When we set out with LampHouse Films to make this project, I only knew one thing for sure: It had to tell the truth”.
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WHAT REAL READERS ARE SAYING
Released in November of 2021 through Vancouver-based Page Two Publishing, the little black book with the magical cover is now available through AUDIBLE and Walmart. A grateful author is deeply appreciative of the groundswell of support flowing from Real Readers just like Chelsea Gilbert in Fredericton, NB, at the Most Huggable Place On Earth.
“Heroes get remembered. Legends never die” BABE RUTH.
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