People - the reason for companies' success or failure

We often hear or read posts on social media about the importance of people in the results of organizations. Nonetheless, very few people have a strong angle to work on people, the theory and the practice differ in this point.This happens due to the time that is necessary to motivate and develop people. However, not investing this time may mean the failure of a big idea, of a project or even of a company. By occupying a leadership position in a company or by opening their own business, working with people will be a fundamental part in their daily tasks.

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Everything begins in selection

The task of developing people becomes easier as one selects personnel correctly, therefore it's very important to hire in a proper way. Attracting talents becomes a fundamental step for the success of a company. The search for the best talents for a company became more difficult since nowadays many people are looking for quality of life, working in a flexible and remote way, choosing to freelance, for example.

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Aiming to attract talents, one must offer benefits beyond salary, focused on the quality of life such as: flexible schedule, short Friday, home office, etc. Now that it has been offered desired advantages to future talents, it is of utmost importance to analyze the proper characteristics of the candidates to select correctly. The best tip is “hire character, train abilities”.

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During an interview, many people worry about the abilities of the candidates and of course it's important to have Microsoft Office skills, to know selling techniques and oratory, to know how to negotiate, etc, to help the company reach its goals, but remember: abilities can be taught and trained, however, on the other hand, character, values and the famous sparkle in the eyes can't.

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That way, the first step before starting to hire is to establish which are the values of your company and what kind of people you wish to have in this “family”. If everybody in the organization has the same values, the company will have a bigger chance to prosper in the medium and long-term.The company will have more success if it hires an employee with strong values and character, aligned with the company and training the abilities than hiring somebody with abilities, but without the proper values.

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Keeping up with the motivation

It is commonly said that motivation comes within each one and it is correct, therefore the importance of a good selection. However, the leaders of the company or the owner (entrepreneur) may highly contribute to increase or decrease motivation, directly influencing the productivity of the team and the results of the company.

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There is a story of a conversation between a CFO and a CEO, in which the CFO asks the CEO: “what if we invest in the employees and they go away?”. The CEO answers: “what if we don't invest and they stay?”. I believe the vision of the CEO is very good and shows the importance of people in an organization. People must be seen as an investment that directly influences the results of the companies and can't be seen as costs.

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To retain talents it's important to invest in their training, to offer a good work environment, to awaken the “intraentrepreneur” spirit, to acknowledge the achievements, to provide feedback and to show the importance of the talent and their work for the company. The “intraentrepreneurship” is the way of the company to motivate the entrepreneur spirit in the employees. When the company embodies the “intraentrepreneur” spirit, it motivates the innovation and so it increases productivity, efficiency and reduces turnover.

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Another important point is to motivate transparent and constant communication, in a give and take between directors or owner and the employees, demonstrating the role and goals of the company and how the employee is a fundamental part to achieve these goals, keeping in mind that people are the most important asset in any company.

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Intellectual capital and the appreciation of the individual

Each day you can see the importance of intellectual capital and the appreciation of the individual as part of a successful organization. Moreover, some authors affirm the company is like a living organ because it has strong influence and dependence from people.

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In this context, managing people means providing the best work conditions for each service and employee, aiming to reach goals in a specific project or the goals of the company as a whole. The role of the leader or entrepreneur is extremely important to motivate and engage the employees in a common goal.

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It's necessary to invest beyond the standards to have results above expectations and outside of the standards, focusing on the main ingredient of a successful business: the people. The success of the company must follow along with the success of the team. Therefore, always remember: people are the pillars of successful organizations.