Four ways to create a workplace environment that breeds greatness
By Adam Witty
Check the latest news reports from Wall Street and the focus is almost always on profits and losses.
How much is the market up or down? Which corporation made how much money this quarter?
But in recent years, some CEOs have begun to rethink the idea that profits should be the driver behind every decision. Instead, there’s an emerging philosophy that having a purpose beyond money and putting people first, especially employees, places companies in a better position to succeed in the long run.
A piece of advice I got from a mentor a long time ago was this: Your job as CEO is not to grow a company, your job is to grow people who grow the company. If you want to be a big business that is respected far and wide, you’ve got to get into the business of growing people. Watching others learn, grow, and develop has been one of the most rewarding parts of my entrepreneurial journey.
My goal is always to hire smart people and create a workplace environment that breeds greatness in them. I have a number of tactics for achieving that.
Make sure everyone is in alignment
Everyone in the company, from the intern all the way up to the CEO, should know what the company’s strategic plan is and how what they do each day helps the company achieve that plan. What I’ve found in most businesses is that the senior leaders want to keep the company’s strategic plan a secret. They think all these important things shouldn’t be discussed with the rank and file. But if employees aren’t clear about the company’s plan, how can they successfully help bring it about?
Let facts and data guide decisions
I am fond of telling my employees that when it comes to decision making, if we’re going to go with opinions, we’ll go with mine. In reality, I don’t want to make decisions based on even my opinion; I prefer facts and data. I let employees know that I’m open to their ideas, but I expect those ideas to be backed up with facts and data that demonstrate why they are good ideas.
Encourage professional development
If employees aren’t careful, the company will grow, but they won’t grow with it in terms of their abilities. That’s why I encourage 120 hours per year of professional development for everyone on my team. I grant each employee with $1,000 per year to buy business books, invest in online seminars, attend classes, or take other steps that help them improve. If you don’t have the aptitude, drive, and desire to improve yourself, why would I want you on my team?.
Have fun
Employees should enjoy the journey and each other. Not only is that good for the employees’ personal well being but it’s also good for the company. Studies have shown that happy employees are more productive.
Ultimately, it’s important for both businesses and their employees to adapt to a changing world, or else they will find themselves left behind. You may not like change, but you will dislike irrelevance even more.
Adam Witty, co-author with Rusty Shelton of “Authority Marketing: How to Leverage 7 Pillars of Thought Leadership to Make Competition Irrelevant,” is the CEO of Advantage Forbes Books.
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