Posted by Who-so-ever one may be. What-so-ever profession one may be in. It is the people around you who matter most in life. It is they who make or break you. Starting from close relatives to professional associates/ subordinates or the customers, they are the ones who matter. Unfortunately, most of us neglect or take for granted the people who matter most.
Taking people for granted….
The children take for granted the parents and parents most of the times do the same with kids. The bosses take the subordinates for granted and some of them even go to the extent of humiliating them as a routine. There are companies who take the clients for a ride often with misleading advertisements and high pricing. This is so true in the case of schools who often take the students and the parents for granted. There are employees too who tend to take a lenient boss for granted.
‘People’ the heart and soul of the company…..
Employees are the heart and soul of any organisation and on their health depends the health of the organisation. Everyone wants to hire the best, under the given circumstances. How does one then retain his people and keep them motivated to give their best always? A very difficult proposition for any business. One must understand that everyone cannot be same in performance. Expecting perfection is a Big No.
The requirement is of the employees who give an above average performance constantly at the scale of 7 to 9 out of 10. Varied types of employees are required to sustain an organisation and outperform the competition. Having all ‘Perfect’ employees may be counter-productive because in most cases then not they will find it difficult to co-exist, being constantly under the impression that they know more than the others. Now that will certainly be harmful for the health of any organisation.
Given the prevalent circumstances in the job market where people are being shown the door frequently and money / salary matters the most one cannot expect ‘blind loyalty’ from an employee. The employee, in most cases, will take a plunge, whenever he gets a better opportunity, that is higher salary or better work culture. Only exceptions may be the government organisation where the employees generally work from joining till retirement and enjoys the privilege of non-performing and still drawing the same salary as the performers and if he/ she is smarter, manage the promotions too. This option is not available to the workers in ever growing private sector.
Aim should not be to hire the best but to get the best out of people hired. How does one achieve this? Very early in my professional career I had learnt a very simple principle of employee management from a boss of mine; Every man is good in something, develop the capability to see / understand goodness in people / things and use them for what they are good in. You cannot expect a fish to climb trees. Hire them and employ them for what they are good it. Do not keep trying to ‘Fit’ people where you want. The day a boss understands this, everyone and the organisation will be happy.
Understand the needs of your employees. The first basic need is of self-respect and empowerment. Give them respect and appreciate the efforts they put in even when they have not been able to achieve the desired target. The shortcomings have to be boldly underlined and driven home but without humiliation or threat. Facilitate people in sharpening their skills or acquiring new which will help in their personal growth and of the organisation.
As a boss / Team leader, do not try to micro manage. Help people grow, by allowing them space for self-expression and encouraging new ideas. Do carry out analysis periodically and help them make corrections / rectifications but do not hover over their head 24 X 7. Give them space to breathe and think. Remember what General George S Patton said ages back “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity”.
Try and understand the reasons for low performance by an employee. In most cases reasons are other than professional; a break up, an ailing family member and the like. Notwithstanding the reason, the boss should be there to guide, counsel or support them as the need be. More than firing, an understanding attitude of the boss facilitates growth of the organisation as it helps in bringing out the best from the employees.
Ensure a good working environment. Do not set unrealistic targets which may only burn down the employees and finally the organisation / business. Avoid frequent changes of the goal post / aim. If it has been realistically set then a change will be seldom required.
Take care of the physical, physiological and emotional needs of your people and they will give the best. A good work culture is a great motivator and the best facilitator for employee retention. One does not have to please the employee or the employer but yes generating happiness is what is needed.
Customers matter as much….
Irrespective of whether the organisation is government or private customers/ clients drive the growth. The organisation which respects the sentiments of the customers sustains in the long run.
Conclusion….
Employees and customers are the heart and soul of any organisation, take care of them and they will take care of the business growth.
“As a boss aim to build a happy team where all members are always willing to facilitate each other’s growth thus leading to the overall growth of the organisation”.
Anger….Do not let it get the better of you…..
Good post Krish..
Thank you so much..
Stay blessed 🙏😇
You’re always welcome..God bless you
Great post, Krish! Those who are in positions of authority need to understand the more you push or treat others unkindly, the more poorly the outcome will be. I’m relieved I am no longer in the work force but am able to live by my own standards.
Stay blessed Amy 🙏🌹
Nothing to add except that it’s a brilliant post and many a organization’s need to learn to retain its workforce. Whatever measures you have suggested even if the any boss or organisation head applies 50 percent of what is written I’m sure that organization is heading for the best time ever. Great post sir. Regards
Thank you Lalit…God bless you 🙏🌹
These are all valid points, I do believe the higher ups need to treat their employees with kindness while not expecting perfection as you mentioned as that is just unrealistic. Great post Krish! 🙂
Thank you..🙏🌹🙏
What I admire most about some non-Western cultures is their general belief in and practice of not placing their aged family members in seniors care homes.
Resultantly, there’s no chance they will be caught in thus left vulnerable by cost-cutting measures taken by some care-home business owners to maximize profit.
Care home neglect was present in Canada before Covid-19; however, we didn’t fully comprehend the degree until the pandemic really hit, as we horrifically discovered with the CHSLD Résidence Herron in Dorval, Quebec, about 10 months ago.
Western business culture and, by extension, collective society, allowed the wellbeing of our oldest family members to be decided by corporate profit-margin measures. And our governments mostly dared not intervene, perhaps because they feared being labeled as anti-business in our avidly capitalist culture.
The buck, morally and ethically, has to stop with the wellbeing and lives of people, especially those who have little or no voice.
awesome 👌post
Thank you Shobha..🙏🙏