“Let’s work together on this.”

That short sentence goes a long way given today’s business climate. It succinctly summarizes a fundamental approach for engaging and partnering with employees, customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders in pursuit of mutually beneficial success.

What makes this statement so powerful? It begins with the first word, “let’s,” which by its literal definition, “let us,” immediately sets a positive, collaborative tone. Replace “let’s” with “we’ll” (“we will”), for example, and the sentence takes on a different context, implying more of a declaration than a collaboration.

Most significantly, this simple five-word sentence reflects an empathy-oriented recognition of what it takes to move forward toward common goals in practically every aspect of your business. It acknowledges the necessity of understanding what all parties need to achieve collectively and individually, underscores the commitment they have to one another to make it happen and recognizes that only by working together will meaningful success occur regardless of the project.

Making Working Together Work

As I’ve written about in previous articles, many staffing firms continue to face a series of externally generated headwinds. These include uncertainty about the economy, a shrinking and changing workforce, election year issues and inflationary pressures that affect practically every aspect of our operations.

Against that backdrop, here are some steps we’ve taken to maximize how we work together with the following groups — steps you can follow in your own business practices as well.

Customers. In addition to ongoing communications about day-to-day projects, we make it a point to talk at least weekly with customers about their business — what they’re seeing in their company and market, the issues they’re most concerned about and how they’re doing overall. Account managers receive regular coaching about how to have these types of empathetic, consultative conversations, with an eye toward deeply understanding a customer’s challenges, picking up on conversational cues for topics to ask about for greater discussion, and offering feedback and solutions that elevate our role as a valued partner.

Employees. We’re communicating with employees more than ever, especially about the current state of the business and what we anticipate in the near and longer terms. To make sure employees know that we’re committed to their professional growth — in alignment with the changing nature of our business — we’ve put a greater emphasis on training and development. Along those lines, supervisors work closely with team members to ensure their efforts and goals are focused in the right areas and, perhaps most importantly, to ensure there’s shared responsibility and accountability.

Suppliers. We’re transparent with suppliers about our business, knowing that in many cases there’s a direct connection between how we’re doing and their results. Through these candid conversations, we don’t shy away from asking for contract concessions or cost reductions when absolutely necessary. In those cases, we provide as much notice as possible, seek to be as fair and flexible as we can, and assure suppliers of our intent to get back to full speed with them as quickly as possible. At the same time, this does sometimes mean discontinuing supplier relationships if they can’t make the necessary commitment to our business.

Competitors. The past several years have made it abundantly clear that in our industry we won’t be as successful if we “go it alone” than if we leverage the incredible depth and breadth of expertise and experience of our peers. Whether through formal events like conferences or informal sessions such as monthly group calls with other staffing firm leaders, sharing knowledge and learning from others is invaluable. An added bonus of this approach: it can lead to opportunities for firms to share customers and revenue in certain situations.

Candidates. Our efforts with candidates go beyond traditional outreach and check-ins. We take the time to really get to know our candidates, their goals and aspirations, and what really makes them unique. It’s a personalized approach that continues long after we place a person to ensure they’re growing and thriving in their career.

During moments in time like this, what encourages and inspires me perhaps more than anything is knowing that in our industry, more than most, we really all are in it together when it comes to achieving sustained success. So, let’s work together on this.