Let’s center ourselves for a moment and recall that my philosophy of business, based on degrees in accounting and business administration and over thirty-five years of work experience in the government and private sectors, is this: Successful organizations are people centered, servant led, values focused, purpose driven, community friendly, and environmentally responsible.

So why should your organization be people centered?  Quite simply, because performance is personal before it is organizational.  You want and need sustainable top performance from your organization.  You cannot expect to get it if your people are not free to achieve their own personal best performance (“The ‘R’ Factor”, Timothy Kight).  They need to be fully engaged in their work activities to be satisfied on the job and motivated to do their best.  You need not only their bodies and minds but their hearts and souls as well.  No matter what the mission, vision, values, or strategy of your organization, people cannot produce sustained superior performance without burning out.  As a business person, you need to be aware of what fuels their internal fire.

In a capitalistic society, or even in socialist or communist societies, it’s not just money fueling the internal fire that drives performance.  In fact, neither money nor profit appears in the primary definition of capitalism.  Money is an immediate, but not a sole long term satisfier.  Over time, most people become complacent about money and it becomes less of a motivating factor.  Money quite simply becomes just one of many rewards a person receives for being fully engaged in meaningful work.

When complacency sets in it leads to lackluster performance and sliding product or service quality, inattention on the job leads to accidents and increased costs, and absences leave key positions unstaffed at critical times.  Your critical processes suffer and drift off target or in the worst cases, completely stop functioning.

Initially people just need to put clothes on their backs, a roof over their heads, and food on the table.  Enough money, consider it base pay, can usually do that.  People expect their first job out of school to do at least that.  But ultimately, people are more impacted by the need for equity, social acceptance and satisfying work consistent with their gifts, talents, passions, and experience.  Burnout occurs even faster if these needs are not satisfied.  They dial back their performance or leave the organization when they burn out.  And that affects your organization’s performance in both production and cost.

Most people will give their heart and soul to their job if what’s in it for them includes not just money, but fulfillment of these non-monetary needs as well.  If their own principles and mission are consistent with those of the organization, you will get better performance.  If they see the meaning in their work, you will get better performance.  If they are happy in their work environment and less affected by personal circumstances, you will get better performance.

We won’t get into Frederick Herzberg’s Dual Factor Theory, or Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, or Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, or even the book First, Break All The Rules, by Buckingham and Coffman.  Suffice it to say that it is important for you as a business person to know that people are driven by more than money over the long haul.  If they feel they are treated equitably, if they feel included, if they are gifted and talented to perform the work needed, if they have the expertise and a passion for the work, then they are prepared to engage not just their bodies and minds, but their hearts and souls in not only their job but also the mission of their organization.  Note that I said, “…prepared to engage.”  What will make them engage can be found in the organization’s leadership, values and purpose.

Why should your organization be people centered?  It should be people centered because it depends on its vendors, customers, community, and employees.  People are your most valuable resource, and the heart of your organization.  If you engage their bodies, minds, hearts, and souls, i.e., get their very best performance, they can free your organization to achieve its full potential.  If not, their lack of performance can put you out of business.  In my opinion, those are excellent reasons to become people centered.

So here’s another question for you as a business person, “How can you do more for your people than just pay them to do a job?”  Well, that’s the subject of our next blog entry…