What are Your Employees Doing for You?
This past week I had a fellow in attendance at the BNI chapter, of which I serve as President. He did a very fantastic job of communicating the services of his employer, and I was ready to sign up for some of what he was selling. A good start wouldn’t you think? Then, after the meeting, I had an opportunity to meet with him briefly, and learned that he is considering bailing out of his company and wants to launch his own thing - in a completely different arena.
News Flash for you… this fellow is in the fractional percentage of employees who are able to effectively work on your behalf, while pursuing other opportunities. I commend him for his diligence and honestly, yet warn you that if you aren’t doing a good job of communicating with your employees regarding what they want out of life - you are missing the boat. I have had countless other encounters where the employee hated his job, and didn’t mind conveying his negative attitude to everyone he contacted!
So, what does this mean? Are you to bear the responsibility for ensuring life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to your employees? Well, yes and no. Let me offer a loose translation from C.S. Lewis: “You can’t really study people and figure them out… you can only get to know them”. Therefore, you do have a responsibility to get to know your employees; at least to a point that is mutually beneficial for your growth together. If you believe that the money you exchange on Friday is sufficient to hold the bond between you and your employee, you are sadly mistaken. In the worst case scenario, you will have abdicated a portion of your business and livelihood to someone who may very well turn out to not share your interest - because he has lost interest, and doesn’t care about you. All of that could be avoided by getting to know him.
Too often, people think of their place of employment as a sterile entity. The “company” becomes a means of supplying needed income. At the worst, it’s just a place we go to kill time and draw a paycheck… a pretty dismal existence for both, and an absolute drain on the company owner. What we should be considering is that the company is, in reality, just a group of people who are bonded together for a common cause. The fact that we are able to draw sustenance from it is only a result of it being healthy. Its health then is derived from the health of the individuals who make up the company. Doesn’t this analogy make it seem a little more important to get to know your people? I’m betting you would like the results of the effort!
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