One of the best analogies I read of the recent Presidential election came from journalist Salena Zito who said, ‘The media took Trump literally, but not seriously, and the Trump supporters took him seriously, but not literally.” Regardless which side of the outcome you come down on, I think this explains why the results were such a surprise to both sides.
This made me think about about all of the business leaders who say, “Our employees are our greatest asset”, and then treat their employees like every other company treats theirs. At some point, if they are really your greatest asset, you really do need to treat them differently. And I am not just talking about paying them more. Some of the other ways that you can show them how much you value them could include:
- Enhance their likelihood of success by giving them roles that match their giftedness
- Know with certainty the behaviors and traits that are common among your best employees so you can replicate their success as your company grows (or if your best people leave)
- Give managers the tools to help them better understand and coach their team members to higher performance
- Capture the different strengths within a team so that when new opportunities arise you can assign them to the best fit person
Great employees want a chance to excel and to work for managers who care.
What better way to show you care than to proactively send them up to the plate so they can hit home runs. If you don’t know how to do these things, give us a call and let us help.
As this year ends and you look at ways you can improve next year (whether it is to increase your company’s bottom line or to take care of its biggest asset), take some time to plan how you can improve in the areas listed above.
Happy New Year!