Wednesday 10 February 2016

Value Your People And They Will Value Your Business

“Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is.  Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”  Goethe.

One of the complaints that I regularly hear from business owners is that their staff  “don’t treat the business as their own”.  I’ve read the latter exhortation in corporate brochures and heard people saying it to their staff, and yet they wonder why people still don't value the business in the same way as its owners do.

The answer lies in the word “value”.  Expecting your staff to place the same value on your business as you do is asking a lot and is difficult to find, except perhaps in some of the latest tech start-ups.  For most staff in “traditional” businesses, their job means a monthly pay cheque.  The owner is the one with the passion.  They will place as much value on the business as they perceive that it places on them.

One trap into which owners may fall is to treat their people as tools to get things done.  Need an accountant?  Hire a “bean counter”.   Need a filing clerk?  Hire one and tell them to get on with it, having agreed monthly salary and what their working hours will be.

Once, when talking with a client about staff motivation, he commented “I pay them a salary; if they don't like it here, they can leave!”  What a delightfully 19th Century attitude!  This might have worked in the days when people were less educated and had different aspirations, but in today’s world, it is totally out of place and perhaps goes a long way to explaining why I had been engaged to advise that business…

Valuing people takes many forms such as (but not limited to): 
  • A simple “Thank you” or “Well done”.
  • Giving them your undivided attention (I’ve seen bosses taking calls and answering texts when meeting direct reports with the result that meetings took twice as long and they were never sure if he/she had listened).
  • Delegating a project (even if you know you could do it better).
  • Putting them in charge of training others.
  • Asking their advice (and listening).
  • Going to their desk to talk, issue instructions or delegate instead of always summoning them to yours (I've seen bosses do this).
People like financial rewards, yes, but they also need to feel appreciated and valued.  If they feel that they aren't important to the boss (and therefore to the business) the risk is that they will go somewhere else where they do feel valued.  Result?  You lose that knowledge and expertise and have to go to the time and expense of training up a replacement.

Value your people, and they’ll value you.



I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world  running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

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