Transformation Network helps employers boost retention

Have you ever thought about how you as an employer can add meaning and purpose to
someone’s life?
A Gallup Survey Corporation survey tells us the number one reason for employee
engagement is having a best friend in the workplace.
People are looking for meaning and purpose in life. When they find that, it almost
always includes other people. When an employer takes the time to help an employee
track a future, whether that future is ultimately with that employer or not, greater
retention occurs. That’s exactly what Dan Phillip, President and Founder of
Transformation Network, strives to do by helping companies provide a path for their
employees to blend life and work.
Transformation Network is a nonprofit third-party business that partners with
companies to improve overall employee retention. Transformation Network helps
transform the culture from the inside, encouraging leaders to focus the transactional
requirements of business and the transformational requirements necessary for
engagement and retention.
Transformation Network’s mission is to inspire individuals to fulfill their purpose as
God’s masterpiece. In turn, the more a company knows about the people working for
and with them, the longer those employees will stay at the company, and the greater the
advantage the company has against its competitors.

This type of intervention is different because it focuses on the transformational
relationship companies can have with their employees, not just the transactional one.
“Companies are in business to make money, but you can’t just be transactional. You
have to be transformational,” explained Phillip.
A transactional process, according to Phillip, is about the black-and-white things the
company can offer their employees. “Most employers say ‘here’s how much you’re paid,
your 401k, health insurance, your week of vacation after 1 year, tuition reimbursement,
etc.’ While we offer that, we also offer a transformational experience,” said Phillip.
This transformational experience is everything that makes Transformation Network
different. These aspects are not black-and-white, and they aren’t only about dollars and
cents. It’s not about a bonus or vacation time. It’s about transforming an employee’s life.
“A Transformational process is about meeting a person where they are and guiding
them through a process of meaning and purpose specific for their life. Most people will
not retire from here - most people today aren’t going to be at a job for 20 or 30 years
anymore. But we will invest our time and resources in helping people reach their goals.
Companies can have a large part in helping their employees prepare for a brighter
future,” said Phillip.
According to Phillip, most companies can slow the revolving door of employees by
implementing a transformational culture in their workplaces. But this will require a
change in the current patterns, habits and traditions of their company and their
workforce.
An increasing investment of time in their employees is the one requirement. Companies
list their black-and-white benefits and think that’s enough to keep employees around
and working hard. Carrots and sticks are not long term solutions to our workforce
problems.
Oftentimes, companies mistakenly perceive that people are lazy or that they don’t work
hard enough these days, and that is not the case. If companies want employee
engagement and higher retention rates, there needs to be a fundamental shift in how
they currently interact with their workforce.
Having empathy and friends at work have proven to be the beginning of the formula for
higher retention. For Phillip, the first change that has to occur is the mindset of the
employer.
“When an employee understands you value them as a person, they become a
transformational employee. This develops loyalty to the company, engagement in their
career, and helps that person understand and better see their clear path to their future,”
said Phillip.
This transformational process is how a job can bring purpose and meaning to
someone’s life.
Phillip has seen this firsthand countless times. He started this process over 20 years
ago with single mothers on welfare who wanted a better life for their children. He then
worked with people coming out of jail who couldn’t see a future for themselves. After
that, he worked with young adults graduating from college who didn’t know where to go
next.
“Through these 20 years of working with all different types of people, I saw a common
theme: everyone wanted meaning and significance in their lives. Now, working with
companies, I see that theme still. If people don’t see a purpose in the work they’re doing
or the life they are living, then it’s not fulfilling, and it doesn’t give them that meaning or
significance we all need,” Phillip said.
With this in mind, when Transformation Network is called in to help a company the first
step in the transformation process is for Transformation Network to sit down with
employees one-on-one for a retention assessment. Transformation Network asks the
company’s employees a series of questions from where the company is headed and if
they see a future to what they most care about in a 30-minute session.
Phillip has found that 8 out of every 10 employees, including upper-level management
and CEOs, don’t have a clear and easily understood answer to where they think the
company is headed.
“If an employee doesn’t know where the company is headed, they can’t have direction,
purpose, or meaning in their jobs,” Phillip argued.
From there, Transformation Network will work with the company to determine next
steps. Every company may need a different plan because no two companies are the
same.
While conducting a Retention Assessment for a large manufacturer in Southern Indiana,
Phillip met with Adrian, a 14-year veteran of this company. During his one-on-one
session, he discovered that Adrian found his meaning and passion in life by impacting
the lives of young people. Adrian has dreams and aspirations to start a life changing
program called “A-team”. Adrian would like to impact the lives of 72 at-risk kids.
“We help companies blend their existing transactional approaches to workforce
attraction and retention by introducing and blending in a transformational approach. If a
company uncovers the hearts of more of their employees and helps them achieve those
aspirations, greater retention, morale, and engagement occurs,” said Phillip.
This is Transformation Network’s process of helping manufacturers increase employee
retention. According to Phillip, “if you capture the hearts and minds of the people that
work with you, you will capture the people themselves, and you can help them become
the person they were created to be.”
Contact Transformation Network at 419-207-1188 to schedule a meeting with
Transformation Network to see if blending a transformational approach with your
already in place transactional programs would be a good fit. Perhaps blending these
two approaches will be the answer to your turnover problems?