Any entrepreneur or business owner knows that leadership is one of the hardest parts of a business, and yet it is one of the most significant parts of building a business. As a professional role, it has its own challenges, but in today's workplaces, we face some serious affairs that the last generation of leaders had little need to address. Seasoned management professional with over 25 years of industry experience, Gerry Gadoury is here to offer a new perspective of leadership for business owners in his book and program, "Destination Employer."

Challenges Faced by Organizations Today

The two major issues troubling modern businesses are—

Losing employees:

In the past two years, almost a million employees have quit their jobs, and that's just in the US. The old way of running a business, when the norm was to put in years in one company, is slowly fading away. People are getting more and more disengaged from their employers and switching jobs every 1.5–2 years. Not only is acquiring talent an expensive process, but for a successful business to keep its success going, its best team needs to stick around for the long haul and perform at a high level. 

Attracting the right candidate:

Finding the right members to assemble this team is the second biggest issue of modern day businesses. Of course, organizations from every industry are looking for highly skilled employees that can fit their company culture and vision, plus have a long tenure there. At the same time, the top talent is looking for their dream jobs that'll build their career. Consequently, a number of companies end up being short-term stepping stones instead of long-term employers. 

Businesses, particularly startups and early-stage businesses, are now struggling to attract the right employee who checks all the boxes. The global talent shortage in the current market is certainly not helping.

Gerry Gadoury Offers Solutions: Destination Employer Methodologies

From serving as a Marine Sergeant to one of the finest technical executives, Gerry Gadoury has moved through a variety of fields, working with hundreds of companies. In his tenure, he has experienced a lot and has gathered confidence in leadership strategies that help organizations attract, recruit, and retain the best fit for their companies. In his best-selling book "Destination Employer," Gerry has penciled down all those tried-and-tested methods that can solve the challenges in modern business operations, complete with step-by-step instructions on how to implement them.

Who is a destination employer?

In short, A Destination Employer is like the ultimate workplace where everyone wants to be. In-demand candidates often take these places more seriously when putting in their resumes; they also tend to stay for longer durations there. Take, for example, the tech industry in 2024; Apple or OpenAI may claim this reputation. However, since the majority of these high-performing professionals are often employed while seeking a job, it falls on you as a business to have the reputation of a "Destination Employer" to attract this talent pool.

Attract-Recruit-Retain:

The heart of the Destination Employer approach lies in three stages: Attraction, Recruitment, and Retention, and the 12 essential elements associated with them. You become a "Destination Employer" when you rank high in all 12 categories.

1. Company Culture: The perception of the employer by the employees.
2. Hiring Plans: The strategic Who and When of bringing in new team members.
3. DEI Strategy: A culture of valuing and respecting team members across diverse backgrounds.
4. Employer and Recruiter Branding: The image of the organization and the recruiter in the employees and interviewees' minds.
5. Employee Referral Programs: Staff incentives for recommending top talent.
6. Job Order Intake: The interviewee's job role is made clear to the recruiter by the hiring manager.
7. The Interview Process: Procedure of identifying and qualifying the right fit for the company.
8. The Offer Process: All the steps involved in producing a job offer that benefits both the employer and the employee.
9. New Hire Orientation: The often overlooked opportunity to onboard a new hire the right way.
10. Career Planning & Training Opportunities: The training and upskilling opportunities available and the potential career trajectory for the employee in the organization.
11. Employee Reviews & Career Development: Tracking employee progress toward mutually agreed production and career goals in the company. 
12. Exit Interview: Steps to be taken when an employee leaves the company.

E-F-G Leadership Strategy:

Gerry says that the first step towards gaining a reputation as such an aspirational place is to apply the E-F-G methodology to your leadership so that employees experience E – Engagement, F – Fulfillment, and G – Growth in the workplace.

The E-F-G strategy, as outlined by Gerry Gadoury, emphasizes three key components crucial for effective leadership:

• Engagement: This involves creating a workplace where employees feel heard and valued where their opinions and ideas are respected and considered.  
• Fulfillment: This is about finding meaning in one's work, feeling like they're making a difference and contributing to the company's goals.
• Growth: This encompasses personal and professional development, providing opportunities for learning new skills and advancing within the organization, according to the career path the employees visualize for themselves.

When leaders take care of the E-F-G of their employees, they create a workplace where people stick around because they want to, not just because they have to. And that's how you build a team that's in it for the long haul, ready to take on anything that comes their way. Gerry puts it best when he says, "If we match what they (employees) want with what we (organization) need, everyone wins."

The Exit Interview

In Gerry's experience, employees only leave when one or more of the E-F-G is not satisfied. However, you can spin the situation to your favor by making sure they leave on good terms and adding them to the "Alumni group" of your organization. This helps ensure positive reviews and referrals from this ex-employee, as well as leave room for return possibilities.

It all may sound very simple in words, but they can get much trickier to put into practice. To help out new entrepreneurs, Gerry has also launched "Destination Employer Program" that offers hands-on lessons for all the strategies laid out in his book, in addition to personal consultation from Gerry.

Times are constantly changing; so are people's needs and demands. As employees reject the traditional practices of business operations, employers cannot lag far behind. For companies to survive and thrive sustainably in today's market, Destination Employer strategies are no longer a choice but a necessity. With his book and program, Gerry Gadoury is committed to helping as many early-stage businesses in need as possible and building a better tomorrow for both employers and employees.