The Employee Free Choice act is coming to a local congressman near you sometime in this calendar year. Judging by the amount of press it is receiving the time for movement on the bill maybe sooner rather than later. Unemployment numbers continue to rise as companies slash payroll because inventories are up (not selling enough) and as a result manufacturing or the production of services is slowing down. With this rising number combined with the "greed on wall street and in the executive offices" the message switches to protection of the worker. That naturally leads to unions and how much protection and support the worker of today needs in these troubled times.
Remember it only takes two people to start a union. Imagine that just two people. That means this whole thing is very personal. It is as much about how they feel as what you or they can measure. That's right I said "feel". This means we need to look at not only the reality but also the perception of workers. Let's face it many times perception is far more important than reality anyway. Unions feed on the quality of work "life" at your business. (Note: The truth is that everyday your employees measure their work"life"at your business. They don't need a union to tell them that. How you treat them affects their productivity, quality of work and your profit.) While watching this legislation, here is one positive perspective surrounding "work life" you can be taking to either reduce your risk for a union at your facility or simply just to make your business better.
Help your employees be truly valuable to your business.
We hear it so often that you would almost think that it is universally accepted and practiced in every corner of the world. The words are not exactly the same but the message intended is consistent.
“Our employees are valuable.”
Dictionary.com says the definition of valuable is:
1: having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange; "another human being equally valuable in the sight of God"; "a valuable diamond" [ant: worthless]
2: having worth or merit or value; "a valuable friend"; "a good and worthful man" [syn: worthful]
3: of great importance or use or service; "useful information"; "valuable advice" [syn: useful, of value] n : something of value; "all our valuables were stolen"
We throw the term “valuable employee” around quite a bit in the business world. The frequency in sales and service is equal to or better than most other areas of the enterprise.
Why?
It sounds good. It sounds reassuring, progressive and empowering. Not everyone is insincere. Many companies actually do feel their employees are valuable and they say it. We think there is another prevailing perspective is that most organizations know how to say it but many less actually know how to “do it.” “Valuable employees” is not something great organizations simply own or declare; for great companies it is something they practice and improve day-in and day-out.
From our perspective, in order to “do it” we first need to break down the word “Value-Able”. Recognize them as different and distinct in our day-to-day operations and with this as our baseline compete with the rest of the world with our Value-Able employees.
First, we need to “Value” our employees. We need our employees to feel important. We need our employees to feel significant.We need our employees to understand what their individual roles are, and why they are important.We need our employees to connect their responsibilities with their teams and the product or service we deliver to our customers.
We can’t stop there however. We also need to make them “Able.” We need to give them the skills and tools to do their jobs. We need to give them timely and accurate training and re-training to perform their role for the company. We need to give them the right technology and business tools to perform the job with excellence.We need to provide them the relationship skills and models to deal both internally and externally with the people that they interact with on a day-in and day-out basis.
When we help our employees feel valued and provide them with the “Able” to do a great job, then they are Value-Able both to our customers and to our company.
What is really cool about this philosophy is that it works at home for every parent as well.
We want our kids to feel valued. We want them to know they are loved, that they are precious in God’s sight, and that they are significant. However, let’s face it, we also want them to LEAVE some day as well. We need to make them “Able” to go out into the world. We want to help them not to be a menace or danger to society! Seriously, we need to help them as they are growing up, so we send them to school, spend decades teaching lessons and wisdom so they can go out into the world and be successful. We need them to feel both valued and able to give them the best opportunity to succeed.
Many companies often say they do both and yet many often lean very distinctly towards one or the other. One can often find a company more “Value” driven and less “Able” or vice-versa. If you have ever had your sales or service group referred to either internally or externally as a “sweat shop” most likely you are “Able” tilted. Equally, if the organization has poor process, weak technology, yet lots of potluck dinners and brown bag lunch meetings you are probably more “Value” tilted. In difficult situations, they do neither very well. Both “Value” and “Able” require constant re-enforcement and practice to be done right.
Are your employees “valued” by you and your organization?
Do your employees feel valued?
Do they understand their role, and how they fit in to the larger picture?
Do you give them the tools to be “able” for you and your organization?
Do your employees feel that you have invested in the skills and tools they need to be able?
If you don't know these answers, we can help. http://www.tamerpartners.com/
Great organizations understand that employees need to feel valued and given an opportunity to be able to get the job done. When done together you produce team members that can deliver intergalactic sales and service. When walked rather than just talked, you produce profits, growth and superior customer experience and maybe, just maybe no unions.
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