Last week I wrote a little tale about two separate corporate entities I’ve worked for in the last couple of years. If you haven’t read it yet, you’ll want to check out A Parable of Two Businesses: Part I before reading any further.
Lesson 1: Treat your employees right
Looking at the overall morale and working environment of each company, I can guarantee that it’s traceable back to one thing: how the employees are treated. At the ALF, the employees aren’t necessarily treated poorly, but they sure aren’t made to feel like they’re of importance to the company. Employees are paid on the low end of competitive wages, incentives aren’t given for going the extra mile (although it is expected), and about the only time the company spends money on employees is for a Christmas party. The hospital, on the other hand, has a pretty intense program based on employees making the difference going on. We’ve also had a lot of fun activities since I’ve been there, including a picnic in which they rented out a whole family fun park for. It seems like most people there see their co-workers as family away from home.
Other companies do this as well. Let’s take ohhhhh….Google, for instance (hey why not?). Google is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing companies of our time. Ever seen a story about the inner workings of Google? It almost certainly will focus on how “Fun” it is to work there. Employee benefits abound the sprawling Google complex. In fact it was named by Fortune as the best employer to work for 2007.
So why do employers want to go to all the effort, not to mention expense, of making their work environment fun? It costs a lot of money, generally, to find and train new employees. If you’re employees aren’t enjoying their working environment, most likely they’ll leave it. As your turnover rate goes up, so does your cost of doing business. Making work fun also improves employee productivity. If your employees are more productive, then you’re making more money. Enough said.
Lesson 2: Make your jobs everyone’s dream job
When I had my orientation at the hospital, the chief financial officer (who was once the temporary CEO of the hospital) said that when he started working there you could hardly find a person to say one good thing about this hospital. In fact most employees were afraid to admit they worked at the hospital. What was done to change this? They made the hiring process stricter. Instead of hiring any old shmoe off the street who met the qualifications, you now had to prove yourself to the company that you’re a valuable asset. For example, my hiring process took about 3 months to complete, from the time of the interview to the first day on the job. That doesn’t include applying for the job. Now the ALF that I worked for still hires just about anyone that qualifies because they are short staffed, after all turnover is really high in that field. Perhaps they should adopt the hospital’s policy, and I’ll explain why this is a good policy.
- Quality workers make working easier. Have you ever had to pick up someone’s slack at work? What does that do to your morale as an employee? It makes you want to start looking for a new job most likely. Hiring quality employees makes everyone happier and employee retention will stay up.
- Everyone wants the unattainable. What does every car-enthusiast child want growing up? What is every child’s dream job? Most likely it’s a Ferrari, Lambourghini, or Porsche in the car category and probably something like an astronaut or a horse jockey. And what guy here has seen a picture of Kate Moss or Heidi Klum on a spread and not thought….well you know what you think. Why is this? Most of us will never be able to afford a high-priced supercar, most of us will never become an astronaut, and I’m pretty sure that no one reading this will ever be able to get into the same bed as Kate Moss (there’s a challenge for you). The answer is simple. We as humans strive for, or at least dream about, the unattainable. Now, if your company becomes that unattainable dream for most people, you can really start to pick your employees can’t you? And you get to pick the best of the best because everyone wants to work for you.
Lesson 3: Be involved It’s no secret that being involved in the community is a company’s fastest route to a good PR standing (public relations, not PageRank you nerds). And to be honest, I don’t think it matters what your motivations are. After all, any true company’s top priority goal is to make money. Why else form a company? And giving back to your community can be a prime investment. The ALF I spoke of puts on community barbecues, sponsors floats in parades, and hosts other family events. This directly affects the occupancy of the residence because people from outside come in and get to see how much fun the environment is (even if it’s just a show sometimes). The hospital sponsoring a health fair shows the community that the hospital really cares about the health of community members, so where are you going to go when you feel sick? It’s all about the money baby, but you can make it look like it’s not 
.
I’m sure there’s a lot of valuable lessons I’ve overlooked here, but feel free to give some input. What other great lessons in business can we learn?
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