Employees Value Purpose Over Money with Lorna Borenstein of Grokker

Have you ever thought to yourself “If we only could have paid a bit more money, we would have landed the A-player we really needed to hire”?

If so, you would be wrong. 

We often assume that money is the main reason for the turn down but in reality, it is our inability to demonstrate how our opportunity brings purpose to the individual. It is no longer a time where good people will sacrifice career satisfaction for a paycheck. 

The balance of power has shifted and the mindset has changed. One thing we have learned from the pandemic is that purpose trumps the paycheck for almost everyone worth hiring.  

Our guest today: Lorna Borenstein, Founder & CEO of Grokker.

The social health and wellbeing network that helps employees at global enterprises to move more, sleep better, eat more healthily and reduce financial stress. Her new book, It’s Personal: The Business Case for Caring, thoughtfully examines the Human Connection Movement™ in the workplace, which is fueled by a growing desire among employees to feel more connected to one another and as a result, better connected to their jobs. 

Lorna’s expertise has been featured in top tier publications including Bloomberg, Fortune, and Entrepreneur. As a sought after speaker and panel moderator at leading industry conferences, Lorna presents on the current state of workplace wellbeing and engagement. 

Lorna is a member of Forbes Human Resources Council and a frequent contributing author.

Today we discuss:

The importance of Purpose as today’s main currency

How to unearth purpose in the hiring process & beyond 

Challenge today?

Insides match your outside

Create a high performance culture

Connect mission vision & culture

To drive results to not move away from humans but toward it

Cost of not caring is the failure of your business

Creating a safe place to be (psychological safety) 

Why is this important to the company?

To keep your people you need to treat them with empathy

Silent revolution (they will just walk out)

People do not want to feel alone (feel like they are part of the tribe)

Companies on the fortune best places outperform the s&p 500 by 2:1

40% of employees report that managers have not asked them how they are doing through the pandemic

Appreciation & interest as a person translates to a 7x increase in innovation 

61% of employees will take a lower salary for better benefits

Empathy is the new company sexy

Rick’s Nuggets

If your understanding the person then you are transactional, and deserve to lose 

Selling, pitching, focusing on compensation

Understand a person’s career wounds first

“What’s happening in your current role that has you open to hearing about something potentially stronger?” 

How do we solve the problem? 

State your commitment

I'm committed to you and here's what I am going to do 

Living values inside & outside the office

People need to feel safe and valued (psychological safety) 

Link their needs what you are going to deliver

Listen & accommodate  

Coping accommodation -  digging into tactical solutions

Create personal/ family time

Survey on policies and adjust  

Provide tools

Digital tools to support healthy lifestyle

On demand on phones

Incentives for programs 

Rick’s Nuggets

Structure first!

Build your interview process around your company VALUES

Take advantage of the “discovery call” to build trust

Understand everyone’s pain, desire, & impact

Ensures people will show up for your interview

Key Takeaways -Value:

3 tiered stratification model 

What did you sacrifice that may have damaged your culture

What is your competition doing?

Transformational thinking

Guest Links:

Lorna's Book: It’s Personal: The Business Case for Caring, thoughtfully examines the Human Connection Movement™

Lorna Borenstein: LinkedIn   Twitter

Company: Grokker  Facebook  Twitter  Instagram  YouTube

This show is proudly sponsored by Criteria Crop