Building a Company Worthy of My Employees

We all know someone, or ourselves; been dissatisfied with our current job and started exploring new employment opportunities. When I ask my friends why they started looking for a new job, their answers are always the same.

I am not happy with my job anymore.

Money is usually the second reason. They do not feel their are receiving compensation that aligns with their skill sets. Call it whatever you want, but at some point in everyone's life, we all want to get paid more as a means to superficially improve our lifestyle. We want bigger houses, nicer cars, better vacations. But there are also other reasons to want to earn more like saving for your children's college, saving for retirement, or helping support your retired parents.

It's Much Deeper Than The Benjamins

When I hear a friend talk about how unhappy they are with their job situation, it's not because the job suck. The job is the job no matter what company you work for. If you are a coder, you will write code whether you're at Google or a local development shop in your hometown. If you are a graphic designer, you'll still use Photoshop whether you work at Vogue magazine or a small web design company.

Losing interest to continue working at your company goes deeper and is rooted in more psychological and emotional reasons - and manifest through your action to "start looking." To be clear, I am not a licensed psychologist or therapist - these are just my observations from over the past 20 years in the corporate world.

When someone tells me "I hate my job" - what they are telling me is they no longer align with the company's core values and culture. The connection to the company is lost; all sense of belonging is detached and not worth fighting for anymore.

Money always comes second - truthfully. I know this first hand. I've had many jobs making well over 6-figures but I felt like crap every day after work. The gruesome drive, the long hours, the ego battles, the political conflicts, nepotism, poor management and leadership - I'd like to say I saw enough.

So, I am using that experience to build our agency the right way, correct any obvious misguidance, and buck trends from traditional wisdom.

3 Things I Am Doubling Down on to Build a Solid Foundation

These may not be the be all end all for everyone, but it's what I am doubling down on and believe is the right thing to do for us.

1. Putting my employees first. After talking for hours with several mentors and coaches, I am ten times more convinced that it is my duty to always put my team first. I hired them, therefore it is my job to make sure I create the best culture and core values to fuel their growth. My failure to infuse their veins with positivity and motivation will be entirely on my shoulders.
2. Stepping aside and leaving it to the experts. I hire people for their expertise in areas that I am novice in, at best. Therefore, instead of trying to control everything, I am now stepping away from areas that I know very little about. It is a waste of everyone's time, and an insult, to the people I hire, if I do not give them the autonomy to do what they are best at.
3. Asking what I can do to make things even better. I am developing the habit of asking for opinions and feedback on how and what we can do better as a team and as a company. My employees are on the front line. They see, hear, and take the shots. It would be absolutely dumb of me not to seek their feedback and listen to them.

I am confident these 3 things will put Fullmoon Digital in a better position moving forward. My personal north star is my employees. Although we have a small team today, we have the right people and together we will grow and achieve great things.

#motivation #business #leadership