Invert Org Charts...Put Employees 1st

As a business grows, its challenges grow too. I have always believed that to make a business successful, one must always focus on the people who work in it.

It is always important to value people

Only if employees are respected and trusted, will they truly feel empowered and be engaged to deliver. An organization that fosters such employee-centric values promotes a culture where employees operate with a strong sense of purpose, and they intuitively start taking personal ownership for their roles and responsibilities. Not only does such a philosophy exponentially increase the likelihood of success of the individual and collective endeavors of employees, but the ensuing teamwork and creativity also creates true value for all stakeholders of any enterprise – be it customers, partners, suppliers, regulators, communities, and shareholders.

Organizations must always remember that their people are their foremost priority.

And among the employees, those in the front-line must be empowered the most as they are closest to the customer and other stakeholders, and so must be treated as the KINGS & QUEENS of the business. With such recognition of empowerment, the entire organizational talent in different functional areas automatically gears up to supporting the Frontline Kings & Queens, and enables their success in fulfilling the needs of customers with an enriching experience. If an organization’s employees are well-supported, through strong back-end support, efficient operations, fast decision making, constant training, ongoing development and an attitude of supporting them in challenging situations, then success is inevitable and the frontline KINGS & QUEENS come out on top….making the business’ value proposition truly unique and one that adds massive value to all stakeholders.

Only empowered employees are truly motivated to serve with the highest standards.

It is only when such a value proposition is uniquely delivered, that a firm is able to earn greater value-based pricing. As is well-known, all customers value service that is not only competent, error-free, and timely, but also service that is customer-focused, predictive and uniquely personalized so as to consistently delight customers and other stakeholders. Such an employee enabled value proposition continuously enhances value of the organization’s brand, positively influencing customer attitude towards the brand and reinforces a consistently positive perception towards it. Such a brand inevitably leads to healthier business growth, delivery of predictable and sustainable earnings, and is always able to continuously innovate by investing in building newer capabilities so as to keep the customer ahead… while rewarding its employees, and yet delivering top-tier shareholder value.

It takes TWO to TANGO….both the organization and its employees!

In such empowered organizations, personal growth and rewards lie in the hands of employees. After all, what goes around, comes around….and so for organizations to feel encouraged to foster such a culture, it is also incumbent on the employees to grab the baton, exhibit loyalty and ownership, while behaving like TRUE LEADERS.

Such TRUE LEADER-LIKE QUALITIES lie on three essential pillars.

1.  Stature is built through knowledge, responsiveness, speed of execution, ability to nurture, ability to give straight feedback, ability to help others succeed. This does not come through title or position. So, employees should seek to build stature through such means. Despite being the newest or youngest in a team, an employee with such a positive attitude can command the highest stature.

2.  Vision is what drives one towards a larger objective. Remember….a vision is not a target. A vision is truly good and strong, if it is never possible to fully achieve it….as a well-defined vision continues to evolve and enhance with external changes, and with the perception of employees as they generate greater successes and gain incremental confidence. It is important that each employee sets their own personal vision as leaders in their respective functional areas while dovetailing such vision with the larger overall vision of the whole organization. Such personal drive and conviction helps employees communicate better with each other, which motivates their peers into infectiously strengthening their individual and collective beliefs in the organization’s overall vision.

3.  Culture is the collective behavior that employees shape for themselves, their teams and the overall organization. It is culture that determines how an organization and its people are perceived to behave and respond. Customers and stakeholders easily sense an organization’s true culture by how its behaves and responds. Therefore, employees must make sure that their behavior and responses are driven by the core values that have been collectively set for their firm and themselves – as this is a combined reflection of the value system that each employee in the organization has. So, to foster such an embossed positive employee value system, organizations must hire and nurture people with a positive mindset….i.e., those who have a sense of hope and optimism and a strong belief and faith in their personal abilities, who possess a strong desire to serve others well and a keenness to win, and who believe in treating others fairly and yet have the passion and grit to achieve the impossible. Only such a powerful mix of employee values and mindset can reflect the potent culture that an organization desires to create so as to make its customers subliminally start loving and admiring the organization and its brand.

An organization’s culture must be in synch with the aim to achieve the set vision!

For an organization to be successful, its culture must be collectively shaped and articulated such that it can be clearly, yet creatively, interpreted by all, and is naturally successful in making good things happen for the customer and facilitating value creation for all relevant stakeholders.

To achieve such success, the above foundation pillars are vital, as such evolved organizations attract employees who are focused, energetic, passionate, creative, innovative, and those who always execute with excellence while operating with very high standards of personal and professional integrity. And…such positive employee attributes are reflected best ONLY when they are fostered by an organization’s vision that TRULY rests on the three vital foundations of Stature, Vision, and Culture.

It is, therefore, no surprise that organizations that succeed, no matter what headwinds they face, are those that are able to successfully first foster such a positive value and belief system.