It's Also About People!

“Take care of your people, and they’ll take care of your business.” - Sir. Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Group)

“The ultimate success of your strategy is on the shoulders of your team.” - Jack Welch (former CEO, GE)

Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs (founder of Apple Inc)

We have all read numerous business management books, articles, and autobiographies of great business leaders who emphasized the importance of taking care of employees. We can also probably add a few more quotes to the ones above on the importance of employees to their company’s success. So, why do many business leaders get this wrong? When did we become so focused on the numbers and neglect those we rely on to deliver those numbers? Organizations with high turnovers, low employee morale, execution excellence issues, and challenges meeting long-term organizational deliverables usually stem from employee engagement issues.

“The greatest asset of a company is its people.” - Jorge Paulo Lemann (Co-founder, Banco Garantia)

For businesses to sustain their competitive advantage, employee engagement must be incorporated into their culture. Regarding employee engagement, I am not referring to company employees and the leadership team holding hands and singing kumbaya. Nor am I discounting the importance of meeting organizational deliverables such as business profitability, growth in market share, or even shareholder returns. What I am referring to is giving employees a purpose. A reason to show up daily, be committed to the organization’s success, and deliver on the stated organizational deliverables. According to a Gallup article on employee engagement, how you treat your employees and how they engage with each other can impact your organization for the better or the worse. A vital success factor for leaders is executing business strategies and delivering results. However, the exclusive focus on performance without incorporating the people component negatively impacts a business’s long-term success. A company needs to be both people and performance-driven to succeed. Well-treated and engaged employees are more productive and deliver better business performance, increased productivity, and increased customer loyalty. Employee engagement is a critical organizational success metric and needs to be driven by the company’s C- C-suite and its middle to low-level managers.

“Before you become a leader, success is all about growing yourself. After you become a leader, success is about growing others.” - Jack Welch (former CEO, GE)

So, how can we build employee engagement? Firstly, address the quality of leadership. The quality of leadership plays a vital role in driving employee engagement. One of the most essential qualities of effective leadership is empathy. The Centre for Creative Leadership defines empathetic leaders as those who can perceive and relate to the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of others. To understand the needs of their teams and be aware of their feelings and thoughts. Thereby allowing leaders to build trust and candor amongst their employees and are concerned about their development. Great business leaders can articulate their vision for the organization, provide clear direction on its initiatives, support their teams with the necessary resources, and remove obstacles that will hamper the employee’s ability to meet their deliverables.

“People want purpose and meaning from their work. They want to be known for what they’re good at.” – Gallup.

Secondly, give employees a purpose and develop their capability. Align the organization’s mission to connect with employees’ purpose and reason for showing up daily. The employees need to feel valued and appreciated. Show them they matter! In addition, employee development must be included as part of an organization’s culture, not just an HR responsibility. Employee development programs must focus on identifying and developing core talent, building new competencies, and providing career progression opportunities aligned with the individuals’ career expectations to keep employees motivated and engaged to deliver results. These programs need to be incorporated into the performance evaluation of the company’s senior executives and managers.

P&G is an excellent example of a company that has leveraged people development to deliver innovation and long-term profitability. The company has instituted world-class training and development to build the competencies of its employees, with company leaders actively involved in their team’s development journeys. It is developing a talent pool of world-class leaders ready to take on new leadership opportunities across the company. The results are highly engaged and motivated employees aligned with the company’s vision of delivering quality products that improve the lives of their consumers. ???????

As part of their development and purpose, employees need to be provided with and understand what is expected from them and where they stand regarding performance and professional development. It is vital that leaders provide their employees with the necessary resources to deliver on their work and build a culture that does not just value business performance results but also employee development.

Show your teams that they matter. They will be the ones to carry on your legacy.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

Additional reading:

·??????? Gallup. What Is Employee Engagement and How Do You Improve It? https://www.gallup.com/workplace/285674/improve-employee-engagement-workplace.aspx

·??????? Center for Creative Leadership. The Importance of Empathy in the Workplace. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/empathy-in-the-workplace-a-tool-for-effective-leadership/