NOVEMBER 07

“When we feel deeply, we reason profoundly.”

—Mary Wollstonecraft, author

PUT YOUR HEART INTO IT

You may recall the time (not so long ago) when companies commonly considered themselves family, implying that management cared about workers as people, not just producers. You may also have noticed that at some point along the way, that phrase was blacklisted by management. The unstated message was clear: we do not want to extend ourselves personally to our employees. Employees are resources. Period.

Through the years, that philosophy has trickled down to every level of business, resulting in rooms of strangers. There’s just one problem with that management style: it doesn’t work.

People need to know that you care. The Gallup Organization developed twelve dimensions of a highly productive work environment. Number 5 on the list of twelve is: “My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.”

Do the people who work for you know that you care?

When people know you care about them beyond what they produce at work, you are building emotional ties that create positive and productive workplaces.