Focus on your people or your days are numbered
Are your people your number one priority? How much time do you spend creating systems to help people reach their potential and love their job? How does a new recruit feel on her first day?
If you don’t focus on your people, you have two choices: start to focus on your people or wait for a competitor that focuses on its people to eat your lunch.
If you’re skeptical, I’m the first to admit that companies can survive and even thrive for a long time without focusing on their people. If you face weak competition, you can succeed until real competition enters your market. The problem is that you’ll thrive in spite of yourself and always be vulnerable. Just ask the airline industry. All was well until Southwest, a company devoted to its people, entered the scene and went on to be valued at more than all other U.S. airlines combined. Or ask Microsoft and Yahoo whether they worry about Google. Google is growing at a torrid pace, fueled by a deep focus on their people.
At the end of the day, it’s common sense. A company is nothing more than a group of people, and their collective actions decide a company’s fate. To succeed, you need the best people and systems that enable your people to reach their potential. If you don’t get the best people reaching their potential, a competitor eventually will.
How do you get the best people reaching their potential?
You need a vision. Why does your company exist? How are the problems you solve changing the world? Great people need to improve the world and aren’t interested in companies that don’t share that need.
You need to design systems that enable people to reach their potential. If great people feel limited by their environment, they’ll pack their bags and leave. A competitor will be more than happy to welcome them.
How do you get started?
The key is to start to see the world through your peoples’ eyes. Would you want to work with you? How do people feel about the systems you created? Answer these questions honestly and start with small changes. Consider giving people more autonomy. Try providing support instead of direction. Encourage people to take on new roles and responsibilities. Ask for feedback and act on it immediately.
Are you convinced? Let us know.
