“Without mastering collaborative relationships, both inside and outside the company, we won’t produce the outcomes needed to win our customers’ business.”
— Lori Beer, Chief Information Officer, JPMorgan Chase
In the early 2000’s, PTP was grappling with a major shift in the recruiting industry. While everything was changing and clients’ needs were evolving across the landscape, we began a new relationship with a client in telecommunications. Twenty years later, this company is still with us and the relationship is thriving. What made this one relationship so successful? Not everything can be reproduced with every client but maintaining one thing above all will pay dividends to any leader.
During the initial pitch with the client executives, we recognized that both our organizations were experiencing a period of change. They were dealing with a disruptive new technology—Bluetooth— that had revolutionized the communication sector. We were mired in a crippled recruiting landscape that was still recovering from the 9/11 tragedy.
The initial candor of speaking to each other about our respective struggles was the first step in building trust. We compared notes on how to deal with the market and in doing so, my counterpart and I formed a bond that not only brought us closer as colleagues and friends, but also helped build a thriving relationship that has survived numerous challenges and lasted two decades.
Collaboration begins at home
Building relationships goes beyond winning a new client. It starts in-house. If you want to attract top talent to your brand, the relationship that you build within your organization matter the most. When you empower your people to take initiative, create their own goals, and work towards their developing their careers in a collaborative environment, the ripple effects are a better culture, a better bottom line, and a stronger team.
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The job market has changed rapidly since 2020 and show no signs of settling into a new baseline yet. Talent shortages are making employers more creative in finding ways to attract the best candidates. Unfortunately, one trend that has taken off is the breakdown of employee engagement in the IT sector. Today, IT candidates have more options than ever before, both in the variety of work available and the type of workplaces. I have seen great candidates walk away from promising opportunities because they didn’t perceive them to be mutually beneficial, instead choosing to start a new job search rather than compromise by working in an environment that isn’t ideal.
This means that listening to candidates matters now more than ever. In an effort to attract the best talent, and improve retention, employers will need to create tailored work environments that the new generation of talent needs. Building collaborative relationships with your team will play a big part in this process.
Relationship management for high impact networking
I’ve always felt that building relationships is the foundation of building a business. When I started this company, we had one client and no brand or marketing. In the initial years, I depended entirely on word-of-mouth to build my business. When it came to the job, I promised my clients excellence in service and access to me at any time. I made it a mission to over-deliver every time.
In addition to the work, I always made it a point to build on every networking opportunity to create better relationships. The job wasn’t just a matter of delivering on a requisition. It was about understanding clients’ needs, their goals, and what matters most to them.
If you are new to leadership or don’t have a client-facing role, begin by building these relationships within your organization. It’s not only an important step in house, but it also helps set you up for fruitful external collaborations in the future. Reach out to peers in other departments, ideate together, make quid pro quo arrangements, and find ways to help each other achieve professional goals. I’ve also found that encouraging cross-collaboration between the different teams on my staff helps create a more innovative work environment.
Relationship optimization and