During Bill Clinton’s successful election campaign in 1992, a campaign strategist called James Carville hung a sign up that listed three areas to focus on. One of items on the list said “The economy, stupid.” This was intended to be for internal use only, but was quickly seized upon, becoming a mantra that can now be applied to many situations.
What should you focus on in order to make an organisation of any size truly successful? It’s the people, stupid!
If you want to consider various ways to be a good employer and you want to see some good examples, then I recommend that you go to www.GreatPlaceToWork.co.uk. The Great Place to Work® Institute was founded in 1991 and believes that the single biggest factor that can influence business success is the quality of an organisation’s people. The Institute states on its website “We know that organisations that build trust and create a rewarding cycle of personal contribution and appreciation create workplace cultures that deliver outstanding business performance.”
The Institute has information and reports on the reasons why organisations are regularly voted the best places to work. You can find lots of really useful information on their website. Take a look and you’ll notice a theme running through the successful businesses that they feature – they focus on their people and try to ensure that their employees:
- Feel trusted to do their jobs and trust the people they work for and with
- Feel pride in what they do and enjoy doing it
- Feel valued, productive and listened to
- Feel supported at work and when home issues affect their work.
Trust is a key driver of engagement which drives performance. Recent data published by the Employee Engagement Task Force found that the top 25% most engaged companies enjoy the benefits of:
- 200% annual net profit
- 18% higher productivity
- 250% revenue growth
- 12% greater customer advocacy
- 50% fewer sick days
- 87% less likely to leave organization.
(… compared with the lowest 25%.)
Engagement also drives employer branding. This describes the employee experience – what is it like to work at this company as opposed to that one? Employer branding provides management with a framework to simplify and focus priorities, increase productivity and improve recruitment, retention and commitment.
There is no ‘magic wand’ quick fix to being a successful leader or manager, just as there is no definitive research or scientific formula for People Management. But if you focus on your people at all times, you’ll be heading in the right direction all the time.
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