This is Blog #2 in my Cohesion Culture™ Talent Retention Model newsletter series. If you haven't already done so, click here to check out the first in the series titled "Employee Retention Model... Runway Ready and More".

As a quick reminder, the Talent Retention Model illustrates the necessary elements for fostering a culture rich in cohesion, where individuals experience a sense of belonging, recognize the significance of their contributions, and engage in collaborative opportunities together.

In the last Cohesion Corner™️ with Dr. Troy blog, I outlined The Four Concepts that the Talent Retention Model encapsulates:

1. Emotional and Spiritual Growth
2. Physical and Mental Well Being
3. Financial Mindset
4. Intellectual Stimuli

These concepts demonstrate the overlap between personal and work life. To retain employees, this overlap cannot be overestimated or underplayed. Employees seek a high quality of life both in the workplace and at home, and it's preferable for these four elements to seamlessly integrate across both environments.

In today's blog post, you will start to think about the impact core values have on infusing cohesion into the work culture.

As the full model image shows, the three strategic elements of cohesion: belonging, value, and commitment surround the organization’s value system.

Core values form the baseline to which we evaluate the actions of others and self. Our beliefs are sourced from core values while attitudes (in this case cultural similarities and differences) are directly influenced by core values and beliefs.

Behaviors are the manifestations from values, beliefs, and attitudes.

Understanding the progression of thought (values, beliefs, attitudes) to behaviors gives us the necessary insight to how important this process is to having a healthy, vibrant, and cohesive work experience.

Leaders must ensure that every employee knows the behaviors specific to each core value (shared value, guiding principle, etc.) and aligns desired behaviors to excellence in performance and engagement.

Cohesion positively impacts performance in all stages of a group’s development.

This was the hypothesis of my dissertation for the research that brought the talent retention model to life. As I have stated previously, cohesion directly produces increased performance and engagement.

Cohesion Culture™️ is a people centric strategy that starts with core values. Once these core values are defined with specific guiding principles that reflect the characteristics of the business, this value system must be integrated within every aspect of key HR practices such as acquisition, compensation and benefits, well being initiatives, performance and coaching, and development. How does management do this? By modeling learning organization behavior, cultivating a transformational leadership mindset and inspiring aspirational vision.

1. Model behavior consistent with a learning organization. Generation, adaptability, experimentation, diversity, and stewardship—these elements provide the structure to create safe spaces to learn through experimentation, making mistakes, and experiencing failure. They encourage us to explore our fears of change and learn from them so that we can grow and evolve.
2. Cultivate a transformational leadership mindset. If your leadership simply focuses on goals, primarily those around the concept of a concrete product, you are likely leaning towards a transactional mindset, which means that the company’s leaders are focusing on processes for today and not necessarily for tomorrow. If this describes you or your company, you might want to consider making a cultural adjustment to a transformational model of leadership that focuses on aligning values and making changes with the future in mind. Otherwise, it will be impossible to create an atmosphere of trust, value, and belonging that is essential to having a cohesive effect on increasing performance.
3. Inspire aspirational vision. While inspiring someone is more focused on the outcome, setting employees on the path of aspiring toward a vision of hope for the future signifies a transformational mindset. The objective is to help others see that future and desire to move toward it. For the most part, it’s just a slight mind shift to go from inspiring someone to helping them aspire towards greatness.

Only when leaders start with a focus on the development of others can the transformation toward a Cohesion Culture™️ occur. And when they understand their own purpose and value as a part of the organization, they commit to achieving the desired outcomes of the organization.

Make sure you're subscribed to Cohesion Corner™️ with Dr. Troy on LinkedIn as next newsletter I'll unravel the intricacies of the Learning part of the Talent Retention Model.

To learn more,click here to purchase your very own copy of my book Cohesion Culture: Proven Principles to Retain Your Top Talent.

For more insight on this topic, please refer to these blog posts:

• Employee Retention Model... Runway Ready and More
• Engagement is Out. Cohesion is In.
• When Culture Is Broken
• Connecting HR and Technology

Interested in reading more from Dr. Troy Hall? Check out my books available for purchase on Amazon.