What it means to have a People First Culture driven company
The way our work schedule was implemented is based on a +100 year old work ideology from the industrial revolution where a worker would come it at a specific time and check out when the bell rang. It’s common to read in the history books about factory workers being pushed to work up to 16 hours a day without getting paid for the extra hours, with the premise of keeping their jobs… sounds familiar?
Perhaps too familiar...
Luckily we are fortunate to be living in a world where the industrial revolution has passed and we, as People and workers, gained some rights to protect our own wellbeing. Unfortunately from my professional experience of nearly 20 years, these rights are often diminished in praise of the good old “he works more hours therefore he is a better professional”. And when I started working I felt that was the way things were everywhere. And I was, more than I can remember, the first guy in and one of the last people out for many years…
My work and skills allowed me to work for companies where they valued the employee that can finish his work before time and worry about the employee that stays late doing his work. Companies where working late was a clear sign of something wrong and not someone “excelling” at their job.
Those companies were protective of their employees and helped me gain a new point of view regarding what it means to work on a company that actually puts their employees first and not just use “people first company” to attract someone to work for them!
People First has been a business buzz word for over a decade but it means different things to different people.
From my perspective a company who wants to implement a people first culture needs is to create an environment where the people feel they can communicate and improve. An environment where the workforce can be at their best and therefore help the company win.
Unfortunately I’ve see too many cases when companies apply a one way communication stream for what it means to “help people be at their best”, completely disregarding any type of feedback.
When we talk about performance feedback, this should not only include providing people with candid feedback, but also to listen to their feedback and using that feedback to improve the company. Only with a fluid communication they can both look for the tools and support necessary for both to exceed expectations.
As an employee I strongly believe, mostly managers, should intervene early with performance issues to leverage the relationship between company and employee and to ensure the employee is not already frustrated with any situation.
Feedback is the source for continuous improvement and necessary to keep a company competitive. Having clear communication between company and employees is an indicator of a performance-driven People First company. But when the company only uses feedback from a client to say how an employee should “improve”, this one sided feedback shows the company doesn’t honestly care about the employee’s “pains and problems” and is far from a “people first culture”. This also opens a door for that employee to leave.
There should be an open channel for communication and not just one side pointing directions hopping the other side wants to follow them.
Without this, that’s just it, the company is giving directions to an employee.
And this is frustrating for an employee, particularly if the employee was an high-performance employee and is now considered bellow expectations when the only thing that changed was the way the company works.
This is a clear sign the company has not implemented the first step for a people first culture, an environment where the people can be at their best.
Let me know in the comments what are your thoughts on “people first”? Does your company have an open communication for continuous improvement?
