Why Strategic Vision Matters to Hire and Retain Top Talent

As the workplace continues to rapidly evolve, organizations and leaders must focus on a strategic vision, and the potential struggles to hire and retain top talent. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, four million people in the US quit their jobs in June 2022. People are continuing to leave the workforce at rapid rates, making it challenging for organizations to find and keep talent. With these rapid resignation rates and today’s cutthroat competition in the marketplace, organizations will only continue to face these challenges and will need to adapt to new ways to stand apart from the rest. With this awareness, organizations must act to create a compelling and strategic vision, or risk continued issues in hiring and retaining top talent.

In today’s world, a clear and compelling vision matters for all in the workplace. Leaders should lead and inspire their teams and maximize their talent with strategic direction and forward-thinking. There is great diversity in backgrounds, skill sets, people, and talent opportunities, requiring organizations to take additional action to focus on how they will attract and then retain these top talents against their competitors in the marketplace. Utilizing a strategic vision can help demonstrate an organization’s focus and vision for the future of the company and the people within it.

The creation of a strategic vision can also help organizations and their leadership to hire and retain new talent by standing out in the strategy, clarity, effective leadership, and future goals. A great first step is identifying your organization’s goals, the executive leadership and other leaders who will guide and lead by this vision, and what will best suit your organization and its future as a strategic vision for all.

Both current talent and new talent potentials, now more than ever, desire to work for an organization where they feel inspired, motivated, empowered, and utilized to the fullest in their workplace and job roles, by both their organization and their leadership. This is especially noticed within the millennial-aged population of the workforce and in the recent turnovers during the ongoing great resignation. People are no longer devoting themselves and their efforts to organizations and leadership in which they do not believe in and lacking strategic vision will only make this more difficult for companies to understand their needs, barriers, and long-term goals. This could lead to employee turnover, a lower gain of potential top-tier talents from outside the organization, and harm to your business’s reputation.

As an organization, it is imperative to assess your leadership and ensure a strategic vision is in place in your day-to-day strategy and workflow. Assessing leadership and any need for their development can also help when implementing a strategic vision, to ensure they also embody the organization and its mission, values, and both current and future goals.

Creating a Strategic Vision

For your organization to thrive in the marketplace and in uncertain times, it must create and execute a clear and compelling vision for all. Your vision must also encourage and empower all people of the organization, so all can lead and follow this vision clearly and effectively. With a clear strategic vision, your leaders can more effectively guide and support their talent and create a more compelling and forward-focused culture for all, increasing the appeal of your organization both internally and to outsiders when seeking new talent.

When creating a vision statement, you will set your organization apart from others, providing an advantage to hire and retain other top talents within the marketplace. Your vision statement should be forward-thinking and focused on the future of an organization and its people, and the ever-changing workforce and talent potential today. A practical example of a vision statement could look like this: “What would your organization look like ten years from now if it were to accomplish all its goals?” Consider this when creating your own and think forward to what you wish to accomplish as a whole organization in the future, as a business, and with your talent pool. This vision will impact all people within an organization, so gaining ideas and feedback from all when creating the vision statement is valuable to retain top talent and gain new talent.

Every organization has differences in workplace culture and people, so creating a compelling and strategic vision statement can be a unique and powerful way for an organization to lead by its values and goals more clearly, and support and empower current and potential new top talent. Your organization’s vision should be unique and fit within your values, ideas, and goals. It should also be unique to your people and the type of talent you desire to hire and retain in the organization.

Current and new talent desire to be supported, valued, seen, and heard, and sharing a common goal and a clear vision can help support this and your organization’s strategic direction towards these efforts and its future. This will help motivate and enhance current talent and their engagement and support their morale and will help paint a detailed picture of an organization and its goals to be seen by potential top talent and investors.

Most top talents are curious about an organization’s culture, mission, goals, and what the organization has to offer, and a strategic vision can help provide your organization with purpose, direction, and perspective. From the outside looking in, potential top talents desire to understand how an organization leads and operates, its values, and if they will feel guided, supported, and empowered when working towards the organization’s goals. Your potential talent also cares about their development opportunities, how an organization will invest in them, and how they will be supported in their own goals. An organization must value its talent, both current and potential, and it is critical for talent engagement and performance efforts at all levels that this happens.

As an organization, it is likely you desire leadership that leads effectively. Leaders may not lead their employees effectively, leading to poor retention and performance, lower employee morale, and harm to the organization’s productivity and external reputation to outsiders. To learn more about enhancing your organization’s strategy and leadership and creating and leading by a compelling and strategic vision for all, check out the publication Leading with Vision.

Beyond the Strategic Vision Statement

Vision matters in the workplace; however, only creating a vision statement, though, will not be enough.

Bonnie Hagemann and her co-authors for Leading with Vision extensively dive into the notion that a compelling strategic vision is a crucial differentiator for organizations to hire and retain talent. This publication also speaks to how organizations can adapt and thrive in uncertain times and become more competitive within their marketplace. A competitive advantage can set you apart from the rest and allow you to bring in and maintain valuable people and top-tier talents, allowing the organization and its people to thrive internally and in the marketplace. It is imperative to note that solely creating a compelling vision on its own will not be enough and that your organization and leadership will need to dive deeper into action.

The authors of this publication sought-after global leadership development experts to further examine the critical actions organizations and leaders must do to engage the workforce efficiently and effectively around that vision. Without engagement around this shared vision, organizations may experience a lack of unity behind the idea and, in turn, suffer from hiring and retaining the quality and top talent.

4 Important Elements of a Compelling Strategic Vision

An organization’s vision should be clear and compelling but also engaging in the sense that it embodies four essential elements: courage, forges clarity, build connectedness, and helps to shape culture. You should consider each of these elements when thinking about your strategic vision.

1) Courage – Embodying courage in the vision will help to enhance employees through empowerment and build their confidence within their roles, decision-making, and responsibilities. Courage helps to give people hope in what they are doing and can help to bring them confidence when carrying out the goals of their organization. Leaders who display courage in their work and of the organization, and demonstrate this within their organization’s vision, can help shape employees and future employees to feel and act with courage, too. When leaders embody courage in their actions and the organization’s vision, this will guide employees to act courageously and feel supported and valued in their roles.

2) Forges Clarity – Forging Clarity within your organization’s vision can demonstrate more precise values and goals for your organization and its people. This allows for a more disciplined and centered viewpoint on your organization and its intended focus, actions, and desired goal accomplishments. Forging Clarity will also motivate an organization to hit its targets more efficiently, to bring in and then further retain and engage its top talent. it increases an organization’s efficiencies by enhancing ownership of projects and accountability at all levels.

3) Build connectedness – Connectedness in vision will help to build and maintain a connected workforce and create a more empowering, inspiring, and forward-focused culture. Humans are wired towards connectedness, so these qualities are often sought out by potential talents as highly desirable when considering a new workplace or remaining within their current one. Connectedness brings people together, and there is great value in sharing thoughts and ideas and when making collected efforts toward shared goals. This connectedness helps to promote passion, inspiration, and actionable ideas and results. Connectedness allows everyone to come together on common goals and in support of a solid and shared organizational vision.

4) Helps to shape culture – A solid and compelling vision will center around an organization’s ideas and goals and help continuously improve and shape an organization’s culture for its people. Shaping culture is essential for attracting and retaining top talent and allows you to target top talent and other high potentials. Shaping culture can also shape the people within it and can significantly impact their workplace experience. People no longer want to work for poor or toxic cultures, so shaping your culture around a healthy and forward vision can help an organization demonstrate its goals and the strategic direction of managing and accomplishing those goals. Shaping culture also helps illustrate how an organization values its people and operates towards its goals.

EDA brings a new and unique way to examine your organization and support you in hiring and retaining top talent. The importance of creating a compelling vision that can be put into action can influence your approach to your organization’s leadership, teamwork, and overall corporate culture, enhance executive and leadership development, and bring effective change in the workplace. EDA provides a range of leadership development programs to meet your desired image and strategic goals. Programs include executive development, executive coaching, and leadership development, as well as specific programs for healthcare, government, or universities. Check out more about EDA services and their industry leading experts, to help create or enhance your strategic vision to better hire and retain top talent: https://edainc.io/solutions/