(Mondays are Lynn Miles Peisker days at The Daily Blur. Lynn’s the Executive Sister and Chief Plate Spinner at the Imagination Advisory Group. Check out her growing archive of posts here.)
My dad always introduces me as his favorite daughter. As I am sure you can guess, I am his only daughter. But that does not diminish how it makes me feel when his blue eyes twinkle and he breaks into a big ol’ smile and pronounces me special. Even at my age, being special to my dad is, well, special.
In his book The Dream Manager, Matthew Kelly says “An organization can only become the-best-version-of-itself to the extent that the people who drive that organization are striving to become the better-versions-of-themselves.” In The Dream Manager, the author goes on to explain how one smart guy revolutionized a company by asking his employees what would help them feel better about their jobs, their futures, their lives. Help them feel, well there it is again, special.
As employers we tend to focus on what our employees give to us. After all, we pay them. They better show up on time and deliver the goods, right? But how much more would they give if they felt special? Radically different in their approach, the company profiled in the book began to listen to their customers and help them with what was truly important.
What if you took the time to ask your employees: What do you need to be successful? Do you feel connected with what we are doing here? What can we do to help?
After you pick them up off the floor, you might find that they have a lot to share that can go a long way to making your business more successful.
In The Dream Manager, the answer was transportation. More than half of the employees had trouble getting to work. They had no reliable transportation or access to public buses or trains. By implementing a shuttle bus system, the company was able to reduce turnover, sick days and tardiness dramatically, paying for the cost of the shuttle bus several times over. And that was just the beginning.
“The Dream Manager Program is living proof that (our company) cares about their employees. It is proof that we care about who they are and that we appreciate the contribution they make to our enterprise. Appreciation is the strongest currency in the corporate culture.”
As they continued to ask their employees what they needed to be successful, to feel special, and then provide it, the results were more than remarkable. They transformed the culture of the company and garnered more success than the owner ever thought possible.
Want to grow? Want a better bottom line? Want to reduce costly expenses like turnover, training and loss time? Ask your employees. Find ways to let them know they are your favorites. That they are special. Follow through with what they say and see what happens.
We expect the results to be special.
Just perfect. Inspires me to take time to look around me and embrace the opportunities to say “thank you” or “great job.” Goodness, why not?
Glad to read what you said about your dad Lynn. Becuase I also have a little girl and it’s exciting to hear it from “her” perspective. Plus I had always called her “my favorite four-year old,” and then “my favorite five-year old.” But now that she’s six, we’ve agreed on a newer inroduction, which she’s now “my super six-year old.” And with this more recent introduction, I sought HER counsel about it first. I gave her some options and she chose the one she like best, as she’s to the age where she has her own opinions. So, for when she turns seven, “my sweet seven-year old” is presently in the works, but is subject to change.
Anyway, thanks again!