Luke Allen | How and Why You Must Prioritize the Development of Employees

On today’s episode of Aligned, we’re rerunning a fan-favorite episode featuring Sean’s interview with Luke Allen, President of OHD, about finding, developing, and retaining A-level employees. As we enter the new year, fostering positive relationships with your team is critical to creating the culture and atmosphere that retains them.

The development process begins when you attract people. 

• In the hiring process, you paint a picture of their future with your company. Onboarding should execute that plan.
• Luke’s company onboarding process begins long before the new employee starts. His company builds a profile for each new employee, so everyone knows the new hire before they walk through the door. 
• The new hire also receives a mentor, an existing employee, who reaches out to the new hire before they start to answer questions and provide support.
• The new employee’s first week is meticulously scheduled, so they know what they’ll be doing and who they’ll be with.

Marketing is an onboarding key player.

• Marketing impacts how a new employee perceives the company. Therefore, marketers should create not just customers who are raving fans but also employees. 
• Employees should want to share company details with their friends and promote the brand they work for.
• Companies that don’t foster these relationships lose top performers because people want to know their value. They want to see that they’re important.
• Marketing should customize their outreach by each person and understand what people employees care about. (It’s not always around money.)

Overcoming onboarding and hiring challenges:

• Don’t lower expectations for C-level employees. Instead, be clear about the demands and provide encouragement and support to help them move up.
• When you’re attracting talent, share expectations early on. Sales training and consultants can fix ability, but they can’t fix culture. You need to ensure people like and want to work in the culture you create. 
• Many companies find employees who act as lone wolves, operating according to their own set of rules. These employees might get pushed out of success (even if they're successful) due to company culture. Your team will notice if one member isn’t held to the same standard as everyone else.
• As salespeople grow in revenue, they grow in control (and thus fear change.) Executives can be held hostage by that kind of seller. Having multiple candidates eases that pressure because your team will be less likely to push against the process. 

Aligned Episode Resources:

• FitzMartin is all about a sales-first culture and a solid sales culture as well. We want you to find new ways to leverage marketing and sales. 

• Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives looking for new ways to leverage sales and marketing for more revenue. 
• To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page. 

You can also connect with Luke Allen on LinkedIn.