Treat Employees as if Your Business Depends Upon Them
Most likely, we have seen leaders and managers who treat their employees, team members, and even peers as if they are expendable. We’ve all probably seen people berate, yell at, denigrate, devalue, belittle, and/or talk down to the people they work with or who work for them. Or, we’ve known bosses or fellow employees who treat others as if they didn’t matter.
Of course, anyone has the potential to react or respond to others in a way that is less than ideal. However, while we may all experience a rare instance of an emotional outburst or unkind word, our character development and learning from these moments is critical. Character is simply the patterns of behavior that we exhibit on a day-to-day basis. And, the way we treat others is an outgrowth and reflection of our character.
Over the course of my military career, I heard one of my leaders say “Treat each Marine as if that Marine will be the one to save your life.” Marines, and other service members, live a life of risk and danger. While, obviously, combat is the pinnacle experience of risk and danger, other activities that Marines participate in are equally as risky. Marines die every year in training accidents, tragically and unfortunately. But, it’s a risk we take to maintain operational readiness to defend our nation and uphold our oath to support and defend the constitution. And, honestly, we train so that we can be relied upon by our brothers- and sisters-in-arms, and so that we can rely on them when the time comes. How does this relate to the private sector?
Just like a Marine’s life depends on his/her fellow Marines, as leaders and managers in the private sector, our businesses depend on our employees. A company’s bottom line depends up its employees. Period. Here’s the rule I learned from my fellow Marine, adapted for the private sector:
Treat every employee as if each employee will be the one to save your business.
How does this play out on a daily basis? Here are a few principles to guide you:
1. Respect: Simply put, we need to treat those we work with and those that work with us with dignity. And we need to recognize, communicate, and relate to them as valuable members of our teams and organizations.
2. Connect: If you care about someone, you’ll make attempts to connect with them. People feel valued when you take the time, even if it’s brief, to get to know them. Know your employees. Ask them questions to understand their lives. And then take time to regularly connect with them about things that matter to them. They’ll feel seen and heard and valued.
3. Encourage & Support: A kind word lifts us up. This should be no secret. However, I’ve seen bosses and leaders who couldn’t, for the life of them, utter a positive thing to those they work with. We need to acknowledge when an employee or team member does something positive. In fact, as leaders we need to actively look for ways to show our appreciation to those who make the business happen. Sometimes we just need to look at someone and say, “I appreciate what you do.” Furthermore, understand that every employee has a life outside of the office/warehouse/factory/etc. Since the start of the pandemic, of course, many people are working from home and supervising their children’s virtual learning. As leaders, it is our responsibility to support our employees and team members. We can’t do everything for them, but we should certainly do what we can for them, so that when they are present at work, they can give their full attention to making the business successful.
4. Hold Accountable: Part of the nitty-gritty of leadership is holding people accountable. Of course, this starts with being clear about expectations up front. An initial expectation discussion with each employee at the start of either their employment or your relationship (if you, as the leader or manager is the new hire or new promote) is critical. Regular progress reviews to let employees know how they are doing is essential. And, ultimately, holding everyone accountable to those expectations, company goals and standards, and other measures of performance is key.
5. Communicate With: When people lack information, speculation grows like weeds. One of the easiest things leaders can do to make their employees feel valued and included is to simply inform them. Bad news is better than no news. And, bad news doesn’t get better with time. Information allows employees to make informed decisions. Leaders and managers have an obligation, in my opinion, to keep their teams, colleagues, and employees informed. As we say in the Marine Corps: “What do you know, who needs to know it, and have you told them?”
6. Invest In: Investing in your employees can take many forms. Of course, many companies reward their employees with bonuses or additional paid time off. However, one often overlooked way to invest in employees is to provide them with personal and professional growth opportunities. It should be every company’s goal to send employees away (if they do leave to take another job, or for some other reason) better than they arrived to us. Providing them with training, certifications, professional education, and the like, is a way to invest in them as a person, in their future as a professional, and in your own business. I saw a meme once that got to the heart of this issue. The meme depicted a hypothetical discussion between a CFO and CEO.
“CFO: What if we invest in employees and they leave?
CEO: What if we don’t and they stay?”
7. Include: Including employees into company decision making shows them that their experience, insight, and expertise is valuable. Successful companies don’t make decisions in a vacuum. Leaders and managers that don’t include their team members in discussions communicate to them that they don’t matter. Employees that are left in the dark won’t have buy-in. It will be difficult for them to take ownership over something that they weren’t included in designing, developing, or deciding. Show your colleagues and employees that they matter by including them in discussions, particularly about things that are going to affect them.
How we, individually, treat our employees and fellow team members reflects our character. How a company treats its employees reflects that company’s character. I’ve heard it said that employees don’t usually leave companies, they leave managers. I can attest to this, having seen good employees leave companies because of the person they worked for. So, treat your employees like they will be the ones to save your business. They probably will.
Dr. Riley is a Leadership Consultant at Legacy Consulting & Research Group. Dr. Riley’s research and consulting interests include adaptive decision-making and leadership, operational planning, and situational awareness. In addition to his publications in academic journals, he also co-authored the book Left of Bang, which has sold over 95,000 copies world wide. In addition to his work at Legacy, Dr. Riley serves as the Chief Operating Officer for a materials science R&D company, teaches at the graduate level, and is Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, where he commands a reserve infantry battalion.
References
U.S. Marine Corps, MCDP 1: Warfighting (1997).
Aryeh J.S. Nusbacher, Sweet Irony: Israeli Application of German Manoeuvre Warfare Doctrine on the Golan Heights, 1973 (Thesis, 1996).
Dr. Jason A. Riley
