Perhaps the highest value of
all is a company's commitment to its people. It can be at the level of fair compensation
and job recognition all the way to the concern for the well-being and growth of its
people.
Compensation
At the most basic level we can compensate our employees with better pay, or otherwise
"share the wealth." You could review wage and salary scales and insure that the
compensation for every position is not only fair, but perceived as fair. You could also
link compensation directly with performance for every job.
Education
At the next level we can insure that the staffers are well trained, and have the skills
and knowledge to perfectly carry out their jobs. How much or how often should you train
your people? As much and as often as possible, and keep on training them. There is no more
powerful way to energize your people and your company for nonstop growth.
The fundamental principle of
education is that it is possible to teach the next generation in a few years the essence
of what the entire society or world has learned about a subject over many centuries. The
fundamental principle of formal training is that it is possible to teach any capable
person in a relatively short period of time the knowledge and skills for a job which
others have acquired through long years of work experience.
Make the effort then to
develop the physical and technical skills of your people through formal training programs.
Social
Recognition
The individual is more than just an animated and intelligent machine functioning
independent of others. Each person has a social personality that responds to attention and
recognition from others. Companies that recognize the social needs of their people and
create opportunities for their fulfillment of those needs release powerful energies in
their people. The simplest way to tap these energies is to create standards by which
people can evaluate their own performance. Then give people the recognition they deserve
for achievement of these levels.
Specifically establish
formal and informal programs to give social recognition to high performers in every
department, not just in sales. Every day make it a pint to go out and find someone doing
something right and recognize it.
Career Paths
At the next level the company can create opportunities for continuous promotion and career
development. Develop clear paths for career development in the company and put in place an
effective appraisal system to evaluate people's performance and help them acquire higher
level abilities.
Attention
An even greater way to show commitment to people is to simply give them maximum attention.
If you look closely at companies that continue to perform at high levels year after year,
you will find that these are companies that knowingly or unknowingly believe in the power
of attention and encourage their managers to shower it on their people for their growth
and the growth of the company. Certainly managers can learn these skills if they don't
have these in full. Also, it should be pointed out that there is also a subtle and
important distinction that should be made between taking interest in employees for the
sake of accomplishing work and taking interest in them for their own sake as individuals.
Personal Growth
Perhaps the greatest way to commit to your people is to care about the personal growth of
your people. This is an emotional concern for your people that is at the level of a
parent's concern for the well-being of a child. If a company shows in specific ways how it
is concerned for the personal growth of its people, success for the company can be
infinite.
(You can also refer your people to the
personal growth area of this site which has many fresh, innovative ideas
on personal growth.)
YOUR COMPANY:
-Does your company show a real commitment to people?
-If you are not sure, ask
around; do a survey to find out. Use the areas above as a general guideline.
-Which of the above areas
should you focus on to show more commitment to people?
