Growth Online > Knowledge Base > Business Growth > Commitment to People Business: Commitment to People   Definition of People Component in Company The people component of a company covers the energies, abilities, skills, and attitudes of employees that can be harnessed for growth. People and companies grow together. Those companies that provide maximum opportunities for their people to grow, find maximum opportunities for their own growth. Unleashing the Creative Powers of Individuality The greatest of people's physical, social, emotional and mental energies is the inner urge or aspiration in each person to develop his or her own unique individuality. It is that energy which provides the driving force for the entrepreneurial spirit that has made this nation so creative and productive. Presently organizations are so structured that one or a few people at the top release the creative energies of their individuality, while tens, hundreds or thousands of other people are only permitted or encouraged to express the lesser energies of their personalities. Imagine, what would be impact on your company if these creative energies, which lie within every person, could be released in all or many of those who presently follow the dictates and execute the inspiration of one or a few leaders? Then instead of the company being propelled forward by the force of a few people at the top, it could develop 10, 100 or a 1000 engines of growth powerful enough to propel it to 10, 100 or 1,000 times its present size. That possibility is the essential truth behind the concept of "intrapreneurship"-creating entrepreneurs within corporations-but so far it is more an idea and far less a reality in American enterprise. The keys for that achievement are right attitude and freedom. The attitude required is one of genuine, deep appreciation for the incredible creativity and resourcefulness of the human being and the willingness to give people the freedom to express that endowment. Individuality can only flower in an atmosphere of freedom. Companies that function from above downward through authority may be very efficient, but they can never match the vitality and intensity of a company that releases even a little of this ultimate power. Glimpses of this power can be seen in companies like Apple Computers during the first flush of their growth. Any company that succeeds-even to a small degree-in sustaining an atmosphere where every individual has an opportunity to flower can plan to double itself, not once or on occasion, but double every year. (from The Vital Corporation by Jacobs, MacFarlane, slightly modified) Valuing Company Employees Businesses are most successful when the leaders are not merely concerned with their interests (sales, profits, success), but with the concerns of the customers, and even more so to their own employees. Total concern for employees brings the business to a state of unity, which can attract infinite accomplishment. Commitment to People Treat everyone in the company as family. Do everything you can to improve the morale, input, skills, energy, career, aspirations, and personal growth of every employee. Respect for the Individual One of the most significant personal values is to look on every person as a special, unique individual. This form of deep respect for each person has the power of generating good will, great happiness, and great achievement. -Every time you meet someone listen to their story and show and feel a great interest and respect. Also, see what unique perspective, knowledge, or insight they can offer. Then be totally responsive to their interests. Make this a regular daily habit in life. Ultimately, make this a value that you cherish. Strategies for Improving the People Component Here are a few people strategies for business improvement: Recruit people with a high level of energy and good health. Review wage and salary scale, and ensure that the compensation for every position is not only fair, but perceived as fair. Whenever necessary, educate people to understand the true value of the company's benefits package. Link compensation directly with performance for every job. Introduce profit-sharing or equity programs to make our people "owners" of the company. Develop the physical and technical skills of our people through formal training programs. Recruit people with the right type of personality to work well in our company and implement its values. Establish formal and informal programs to give social recognition to high performers in every department, not just in sales. Every day make it a point to go out and find someone doing something right and recognize it. Develop the interpersonal and organizational skills of our people through formal training programs. Define clear paths for career development in the company and put in place an effective performance appraisal system to evaluate people's performance and help them to acquire higher level abilities. Recruit people with the highest possible level of education and experience. Develop the managerial and psychological skills of people through formal training and personal guidance. Give greater personal attention to the people you work with (not to their work) and encourage them to do likewise with their people. Actively involve and encourage people to come forward with ideas and proposals to increase efficiency, improve communications, foster cooperation and promote harmony within the company, and between the company and its customers and its vendor. Recognize and reward individual efforts to improve the functioning of our organization. Give people personal attention. Strive to provide people with continuous opportunities to increase their incomes. Provide regular, on-going training for every employee Give regular feedback to individuals on their performance and what they can do to improve. Maintain clear and effective two-way communication with all employees. Implement psychological values such as respect for the individual, personal growth, freedom, and harmony to the highest level. (from The Vital Corporation by Jacobs, MacFarlane, slightly modified) Turning Around a Losing Company by Adopting People Value Paying greater attention to the needs of all others in the company than to one’s own needs is a spiritual value that can turn a losing company into a profit making one the next month. (MSS) Trading Management Authority for Work Authority as Employee Enthusiasm in Company Management believes in authority. Exercise of authority does work. There is an alternative method, which is better. Release the enthusiasm of the worker. Then authority will be superfluous. Train the enthusiasm into a skill. In that case, no supervision will be necessary at all. Each will be conscious of his own skill. In such an atmosphere it is not easy to make the worker leave the factory at the closing hour. It is the authority of work which is far better than the authority of the management. There is something even greater than the work. It is the Spirit of the work. (MSS) Take Work to the Man, not Man to the Work Henry Ford used to say ’Take the work to the man and not the man to the work’. He meant the work should be so diluted that the Man would understand it perfectly. We should not expect a man to understand a work because he has to do it. (MSS) Perfect Skill is of Permanent Value To see that everyone in the company acquires perfect skill in what he does will raise any company from the bottom to the top. It is the duty of the owner of the company to constantly raise the skills of his workers. That makes the workers happy and labor relations smooth. A company with 50 workers had at least 25 labor problems in two years and was closed for five months. The proprietor agreed to take very special steps to give complete skill to all his workers. The situation reversed and the labor trouble disappeared. The Required Level of Education for the Employee Education expands the mental horizons. An educated person is better for his education. Each level of work requires a minimum education. Workers, supervisors, clerks, managers, accountants, etc. should have the education necessary for them. That makes the work enjoyable for them and productive for the company. The idea of accomplishing a higher work through a less educated person may be successful in the exception, but as a rule it hurts the work. (MSS) Full Essential Training for the Work is Important Education is the base, training is the top dressing. Regular systematic training, though costly in the beginning, pays rich dividends in the long run. Generally we let our workers be trained during work performance; or we expect them to be trained by experience. As a rule this training is slow, partial and expensive. A rapid, full training for the worker is important. One company in Holland followed the first principle of recruiting people and expecting them to acquire training through service. Another recruited trained people. Though both were of comparable endowments in all respects, in five years the second company rose to the 3rd position in the industry while the first company was ranked 21. Populism and Business Success Your [Business Week] headline [about how populism and business don't mix] is very 20th century. Why is populism a notion that is at odds with business? At each point where business takes up the need of the individual, it thrives. Successful business is populism in action. ARTICLE on How Commitment to People is the Highest Business Value Thoughts on the Power of Attention         New Insights into Infinite Business Success A Growth Online Portal Visit Now     Contact Us  | Growth Online Home