Treat Them Like Valued Employees and They’ll Behave Like Valued Employees

It’s been my experience that many companies seek to make rules, regulations, policies, procedures and the like in an effort to “control” their employees. My contention is that if you need that many rules and procedures, you: a) missed the boat and hired the wrong people b) don’t know how to treat your most valuable asset or c) both In every circumstance, human capital is the most valuable asset of any organization. It all starts with “getting the right people on the bus” as Jim Collins talks about. If you have the right people on your team, the best thing to do is point them in the right direction and then get out of their way. If they are the right people, they will charge ahead toward the goal. If you’re there to support, encourage and remove the roadblocks along they way, you will do them and yourself a great service. But if you don’t get the right people on the bus, you will see instances where more control is necessary. The way to combat that?—rules, right? I don’t agree that that is always the right answer. I know there are financial realities in every organization. I’ve dealt with P&L sheets before and I understand that there’s not an unlimited cash flow to provide sufficient incentive to your people. But here’s the bottom line: If your people feel respected, appreciate and are compensated fairly according to their individual contribution to the organization, they will continue to produce excellent results for you. So maybe instead of more rules, you might need more incentive for the type of behavior you desire. Easier said than done, of course, but this discussion is the starting point of that change. Some incentive is as simple as a positive comment from their superior, a note of thanks from an executive, a company picnic, a surprise bonus, an extra day off here and there, movie tickets, gift certificates and a feedback mechanism to listen to what your employees want. There are some environments where this whole argument may not fly and I’m fully aware of that. I still believe that in almost any environment this philosophy is sound and if applied, will yield tremendous results. Just try it.