Leading business by caring for staff
During my MBA, I was taught that the purpose of a business is to make money, and that customers should always be the focus of everything a company does. However, I think that this view is no longer valid and that my role in leading business by caring for staff is the way to make more profit and deliver better services to customers. Leadership of staff through positivity is the way to go.
It is a very 80’s approach to focus on quarterly profit, but unfortunately that is the way that most business still operates. The ethos and conventional wisdom of companies is to prioritise profits over everything else – if the company is not making enough profit, dump some staff. Trim budgets, freeze raises, suspend new hiring, cancel expenses and staff training – and then the company will start making lots of that lovely money!
People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers
In my 20+ year management and leadership career, I have never had one of my team (or direct report) quit. I have had my superiors “recommended” that individuals be removed or be disciplined, but instead I built them up and redirected them to achieve better outcomes for both the staff member and the company. Too many companies treat people as resources that they can dial up or down, add or remove at will – and forget that treating people well is how you get the best out of them, instead of just getting rid of the ones who are [currently] not performing well.
My team are people, and I treat them as such. I insist that my people get training or self development every year, to keep them growing and support the individual as well as the capabilities they offer to the business. This can be on-the-job training as well as dedicated classroom or online training, it can be development through conferences and events, networking with peers at usergroups, or even non-work related development that can re-invigorate inspiration and drive.
This is not just important to do, but also who I am. Taking care of people is the core of being a leader, without supported staff, you will not have a business.
Not focusing on the customer
It may be counterintuitive, and you have to read more into this statement than just the words. Customers are important, without them you have no business, and if you don’t evolve with customer needs then you will fail. However, to deliver exceptional services and products to customers, you need to have good staff.
Staff need to feel motivated, inspired and driven. We have all had the experience of a disinterested server or cashier who seems to put more effort into making your experience suck, than it would have taken for them to successfully complete what you wanted them to do. These are the people who do not believe that the ‘customer is always right’, and do not focus on the customer.
By motivating and supporting staff, they become happier and more driven in their job, which in turn leads to better customer outcomes. Don’t just tell your staff to look after customers, take your staff on the journey and they will know what to do so that customers will be delighted.
