In his book, “What Were They Thinking? Unconventional Wisdom About Management,” author Jeffrey Pfeffer devotes a chapter to “making companies more like communities.” His premise is that a company’s human capital is the key to its success, and the key to attracting and retaining the best people is to develop a caring, community-like culture. In a close-knit community, people form relationships . . . they help one another, support one another, and protect one another. They celebrate and grieve together, and in general, treat one another like extended family. But American companies, Pfeffer contends, are wary of letting their employees personal lives intrude too much into their professional lives. So while CEOs pay lip service to the importance of employee loyalty, they see the relationship between the company and its employees as mostly transactional . . . if you do this, I’ll pay you that. They fear it would cost too much to go beyond that and start building real, human relationships.
If you believe it’s a good idea to keep the personal lives of your people at arm’s length, you should probably stop reading here. If not, please read below.
“There is no talent shortage if you’re a great place to work.” – Tom Peters
It’s true. Or as business consultant Malcolm Moore has said, “People don’t leave jobs they love.” So what are companies doing to develop more caring, community-like cultures? Consider a few examples:
• A company holds a fund drive to collect money from employees, matched by the corporation, to help employees who are financially stressed due to an illness. People who have been helped in this way say it’s not just the financial support, but the emotional support as well that helps them get through a tough time.
• At another company, employees get birthday cards from the company. They also get a note, a call, or both from a senior manager if they experience a significant life event, happy or sad.
• What about a company that on a new employee’s first day of work, sends flowers to the employee’s spouse (male or female) with a note welcoming them to the “family.” The same company invites family members to attend every major business meeting and function.
• “Road warriors” get special treatment at another company. In recognition of the sacrifices a family makes when an employee must travel extensively, the company provides gifts and “Road Warrior Points.”
• Yet another company allows its employees time off to attend their children’s school events . . . athletic competitions, school plays, etc.
So maybe the conventional CEO wisdom cited above . . . that building a community-like culture is too expensive . . . is correct. After all, this stuff does cost something in real dollars, time, and effort. Besides, we’re trying to run a business here, not a Day Care Center for adults, for cryin’ out loud!
OK, then forget any altruistic motives here. Let’s just look at this as cold-hearted, hard-nosed business people. Where’s the ROI in this community stuff?
1. A community-like culture will create more loyalty and goodwill than a paycheck alone will ever create.
2. Loyalty and goodwill begets lower employee turnover.
3. Lower turnover means you’re spending less on recruiting and training costs.
4. Lower turnover also means more efficient operations because work is being done by experienced people rather than new trainees.
5. Loyalty and goodwill will also help you deliver better customer service. If you don’t believe that, just ask Southwest Airlines.
Fundamentally, we’re all social creatures. We enjoy the camaraderie and interaction that comes when we’re in a group, particularly when we feel we’re a welcome, valued member of the group. In fact, we could argue that we are the sum total of all the “communities” we’ve ever belonged to. Consider what might be the ultimate community, the Marine Corps. As they say, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. People who served in the Corps tend to be fiercely loyal to it long after they take off the uniform. Likewise, people feel strong bonds to the schools they attended, to their places of worship, and to charitable or civic organizations they have served.
So, will your company simply be a way station your employees pass through as they move between communities? Or will yours be a close-knit community that makes people want to plant their flag and stay awhile?
Rock Solid Business Development
Phone: (847) 665-9134
andy@rocksolidbizdevelopment.com
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