dispatches from the new world of work

The Basics IIA:
All You Need Is Love,
Not Tom Peters or Gary Hamel

I ran on so long in that last post that I obscured the basic point. Clever "human resources" programs that take into account the "new realities" concerning Gen X or Chinese competition or Web 2.0 are not the basis for creating "competitive advantage through an excellent workforce." The "great secret" to "people excellence" is "treat people with manifest respect and appreciation and trust, and give them a chance to express the best in themselves and dramatically broaden their horizons"—and "the rest" will take care of itself for Gen A or Gen B or Gen X or Gen Boomer.

Tom Peters posted this on 10/05/07.

Comments

Tom - so why do so many companies still treat the front line people abysmally without respect or dignity? Most businesses still concentrate first on profit and the bottom line. The measure of success is not profit in my view â€“ profit is a helpful by-product of treating your people well. What you do to celebrate your customers and your frontline staff is the currency I love. What you say (and I agree 100%) is a no brainer. The challenge is to invent a respected new currency of love.

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 5, 2007 3:48 PM

You are right Trevor...to me a great deal of disrespect is communicated when during challenging times, the folks at the top treat those on the front lines as merely execution teams. We will tell you what to do, just do it. Communicates that when times are tough, you aren't smart enough to call the shots..only "we" are...And they wonder why people disengage....geesh!

Posted by Mike Neiss at October 6, 2007 7:19 AM

Disrespect to a front line employee, to my mind, could not be more manifest when he, or she, is forced to work in a double standard environment: this person (group or department) can function differently from another in a different group or department within the same company under the same set of rules and be negatively criticized speaking against the practice. This privately-owned company I currently work for practices it openly because of "fear" from the offending department.

Posted by Garey T at May 6, 2008 10:59 AM