Makenzie Rath Talks Retaining Talent in a Tough Market

In this pilot of Let’s Talk Talent, host Mark Epp has an insightful conversation with Makenzie Rath, President of Talent Plus.

Talent Plus recognizes, engages, accelerates, and leads talent, talent strategies, and talent planning across organizations.

In this episode:

• They discuss the challenges of bringing a company through a pandemic all while maintaining meaningful relationships with clients.
• Rath explains how compassionate leadership and a genuine heart has led to her success as both a leader and a mom, and how it can help you too.
• They address the challenges of the current labor market, the economic factors at play, and how to still find, hire, and retain the right talent amid it all.

Read Makenzie's blog, One Size Fits No One — How Parenting Changed my Perspective on Leadership here.

Contact us today to learn more about how we predict performance and maximize human potentiality. Let's Talk Talent!

Transcript

Mark Epp:

Joining us today is Makenzie Rath, President of Talent Plus. Makenzie, welcome to the Let's Talk Talent podcast. Could you share a little bit about yourself and what you do at Talent Plus?

Makenzie Rath:

Yes. Well, good day, Mark. It's such a pleasure to be speaking with you today. I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, so it is home for me. I did have the privilege to live in Singapore for a couple of years after I finished my undergraduate work at the University of Nebraska and worked for Capella Singapore as one of their Senior Personal Assistants and became really the hallmark of the guest experience. And so it was such an incredible journey and the friends I made there and what I learned have had a lasting impact on me and my leadership.

After I lived in Singapore, I moved back to Lincoln, began my graduate work at Pepperdine University in Organization Development and started working at Talent Plus and grew up through Talent Plus and participated and learned and spent time in almost every business unit. And today I have the esteemed privilege to be the president and think about leading us into the next generation. 

Mark Epp:

So, how long have you been President of Talent Plus?

Makenzie Rath:

January 1st, 2020.

Mark Epp:

Okay.

Makenzie Rath:

Yeah. A wild ride for a couple of years here. 

Mark Epp:

So Makenzie, you became president of Talent Plus when the pandemic started. What challenges arose because of the pandemic.

Makenzie Rath:

So, as I reflect on the start of the pandemic, it's interesting Mark, because we have an office in Singapore and we were actually seeing and feeling some of the pandemic aspects in February of 2020, which was a little bit earlier than when the states started responding. And so we were paying attention to what was happening in our Singapore office and different protocols that were starting to go in place. 

But I think one of the biggest challenges was figuring out what we needed to do for our clients to maintain great relationships with them but knowing that some of our clients couldn't operate their businesses at all. I mean, we were lucky here at Talent Plus to go remote and be able to still have a high enough level of operation to keep going. But some of our clients in hospitality, retail, they had to completely shut down. And so what do you do in those moments to be a good partner, to maintain the depths of our relationships but know, we're also all trying to run our businesses too. 

And I'm so proud of what our teams accomplished, especially in that February, March, April, May, June. Those first kind of five, six months of the pandemic were very critical and we were able to work very closely with our partners to one, back to the levels of service, know they cared, we cared about them, and they cared about us. And we figured out what we needed to do with each client to either pause or just navigate the, the tough waters at the time. And we've actually had stronger relationships with our clients coming out of the pandemic because we wanted to lean into them at that time versus leaning away just saying, pay your bills and, you know, this is what you're contractually obligated to do. That wasn't the right thing.

Mark Epp:

And one of the things that I know about you is truly the genuine heart that you bring to every interaction with people. Now some businesses, in fact, there are some statistics that say that 70+ percent of organizations in the world, or certainly in the United States run on intimidation and anger. Now what you've just expressed of bringing a genuine heart and care about people is very different than that. How can organizations incorporate more of that kind of compassionate leadership rather than thinking they have to be angry at their employees to get a job done? 

Makenzie Rath:

So I think Mark it starts from the top and how leadership chooses to role model and embody the mission, vision, values of the organization. I can't imagine for some of those organizations that rely off fear and intimidation, that their values and their mission, vision statement say, “we’re gonna build fear and intimidate people”, there's no way their mission or values set say that. 

So as leaders, if we're not embodying the true north of our organizations and what we're all here to do in that underlying purpose, then it's probably not gonna work well to create the kind of cultures and successes, and goals that we wanna achieve together. So I think market starts from the top and you gotta love where you work and have that true embodiment of the vision and purpose of your organization.

Mark Epp:

Makenzie, you are a mom and the President of Talent Plus. How have both of those roles helped you to be the leader that you are today?

Makenzie Rath:

I think both significantly contribute to how I see myself, and the kind of mom and leader that I wanna be. It's interesting, Mark that question as I'm sitting here and reflecting. I don't know if I would describe myself very differently from being a mom and a leader. I wanna lead with compassion and trust. I want my kids to trust me. And think having kids, especially two now, the second one is very different from the first. 

I wrote kind of a blog about it recently that one size fits no one because what I thought was super great with our first and I was like, “babies are easy, we've got this.” And then our second one came along and I thought, there goes the playbook. It's been thrown out the window of the fast moving car because everything that worked with the first didn't necessarily connect with the second. And that's okay. It's reminded me though that I can't just have these blanket strategies for my kids or for organizations. 

Mark Epp:

Makenzie, what challenges do you think C-Suite leaders and organizations are facing today?

Makenzie Rath:

I think there's a number of economic factors at play from just the state of the global financial, I don't wanna say crisis cause it's not a crisis yet, but decision points around inflation and supply chain issues that we're facing. I think also another challenge is how as organizations we're continuing to integrate and learn about how we can be better at diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and having it become part of organizations fundamentals versus just something that's an annual, you know, check the box kind of training and doesn't help us move forward as society. 

There's a lot of challenges today with hiring enough people in the workforce and then the hybrid work environments too. And some things we may have been more or less prepared for, but there's certainly a lot of factors that come at us. 

Mark Epp:

Those are really important factors that you've just mentioned, Makenzie. So what solutions at Talent Plus do we have to address some of these challenges that you've just mentioned?

Makenzie Rath:

So, we have a number of solutions when you think about who you want to select into your organization, first and foremost. If you wanna be able to deliver on your mission, vision and values, you gotta get the right input and the right people in the door first before you get those expectations underway. And so we have a number of assessments and interviews that are focused on getting the right person in the right role so that magic can happen. So those behavioral assessments and interviews that we have as part of the selection process. 

And then from development, there's a lot of things we have around coaching. Manager, executive level coaching, 360’s, team development, team surveys, engagement surveys, for example, exit surveys. All of those solutions are incredible Mark, but it still comes back to being paired with caring conversations that leaders and managers have to have to be able to have a pulse of what's going on and then how can you build in solutions from Talent Plus, for example, to help facilitate better learning outcomes, faster growth. 

So for me it's, you can't just put solutions in place and hope that that's gonna fix whatever problem you might be facing. It's part of a whole series of buy in from the right people. Caring, critical conversations paired with science-based data backed approaches to ensure that you're getting the right information to make the right decisions and help grow and develop and promote your people. 

Mark Epp:

So you just talked about the powerful things we do here at Talent Plus. So, let me ask cause a lot of people don't always know, even here in Lincoln, Nebraska where our corporate headquarters is, what do they do at Talent Plus? What does Talent Plus do, Makenzie?

Makenzie Rath:

Yes. That's one of my favorite questions to answer. And as I explain what we do, Mark, I'm gonna talk about our mission, because we know every person has talent. Talent’s expression is dependent upon not only the opportunity but also the desire to express it. And we envision a world here at Talent Plus where people do what they're good at and enjoy. And so it's part of our mission of how do we actualize that world every single day. 

And so what does that mean we do? In short, we Recognize, Engage, Accelerate and Lead talent. Talent strategies, talent planning across organizations. So it's back to that selection. Who do you wanna bring in to join your organization or who might you wanna promote into a leadership role or subject matter expert role? So thinking about those critical selection decisions across your organization from front line to C-Suite.

But then the real work really starts on day one. When you have worked so hard to select that person, that's when then the development strategies, how are you gonna invest in this individual so that they can achieve their maximum potential, their maximum greatness with you? And that's where then we have a number of different development strategies from coaching to succession planning, engagement surveys, research studies and benchmarks to better understand your talent journey across an organization. And as your organization in terms of your goals and profit revenue continue to grow and thrive, how's your people strategy following that same course and continuing to grow and be elevated with your organization's success. 

Mark Epp:

So what's a Talent-Based Organization® then?

Makenzie Rath:

A Talent-Based Organization® is one that leverages the natural talents of their individuals, their employees, their people, to the benefit not only of the organization's growth, but also to that individual growth as well. It's mutually beneficial and organizations that truly think about talent and right role, right fit, right seat, when that magic happens and then they work to invest in the talent that they have, is what I think about organizations that are on that journey to being and becoming talent based cultures, Talent-Based Organizations.

Mark Epp:

So how might an organization go about creating a Talent-Based Organization®?

Makenzie Rath:

First step is understanding and recognizing the talent that you have. So let's understand your current state and then think about what those future possibilities are. What’s the vision for the leadership team? How do they see the organization growing and evolving? And back to your talent strategies, how do they align with that vision? They are connected, but have we planned for that? What kind of talent do we have today and what will be needed for the future success of the organization? So I think it starts first with recognizing your talent. And appreciating the people that you have inside of your company. And then we can go from there.

Mark Epp:

Okay, so if there are three action steps, you've just offered one, that you'd like our audience to take today to learn more about Talent Plus and how Talent Plus can help them enhance their success. What are a couple more steps that they can take right away to learn more about Talent Plus and how we could help support them?

Makenzie Rath:

Thank you, Mark. I think three clear takeaways is awesome. So recognizing the talent that you have. I think as leaders, have you had enough caring critical conversations recently to know what's happening? So that way as leaders, we are in line with the pulse of the organization. So that would probably be number two Mark is, are we listening enough as leaders? That way when hopefully we can talk to you here at Talent Plus we can ensure that we are aligned with what your organizational goals are. 

So I think recognizing, continuing to have caring, listening conversations as leaders. I think the third thing then, as I think about it is we talked about the economic factors earlier and as things continue to evolve quickly in our world for leaders, don't be afraid to ask for help or to try new things. 

Mark Epp:

Excellent. Well, just to reiterate, thank you so much Makenzie. This idea of really understanding who's your talent? Who do you have in your team right now and what are their talents? Number one. 

Number two, listen to your organization, ask great questions so you can communicate that information. And you can communicate that to us for sure. 

And then also reach out, ask us  for help. We're here to support you. And one of the things I love working with you, Makenzie, is you get on the phone with our clients who are asking for help and wanna know how much Talent Plus can really help us. That's what you do every single day and I value that so much Makenzie. 

Thank you so much for being on our podcast today. Let's Talk Talent!