This is a story for all the CEO’s, COO’s and CFO’s out there who would amputate an employee’s limb to increase profitability, especially when their own bonus is at stake.
I co-own a small creative agency. We do ads, story pitches, social media strategy, logos and brochures. We have four full-timers, ten trainees, lease a 1400 square foot studio and our assets consist of some MacBooks, desk chairs and a cobalt blue, fresh water lobster named Lola. Yes, she is a “show lobster.”
I’ll be the first to profess that my business partner is who keeps our ship on course and water tight, while I dream up new ways to rig the sails and entertain the crew. That’s as far as I can take the yachting analogy but you get the idea. Right-brainers unite!
What then do I know about running a public, international, multi-billion dollar beast with tens of thousands of employees? I have never been under the constant scrutiny of shareholders, board members and reporters. Nevertheless, I owe All Business a blog before the holiday so I’m going to take a flying leap over the abyss of theory vs. practice and write about how to save some of those blue collar limbs and white collar bonuses.
- Obviously you can invest in more people, training or equipment but then your top line increases and you are betting that the ROI will be there.
- You can reduce costs, but after three years of fat trimming and merciless rounds of layoffs, it’s safe to say those cuts would be shattering, not "cutting into," the bone.
- What if I told you there is a way to squeeze more productivity out of your current employees? One that doesn’t involve threats, water-boarding or similar tips from the Rove, Rumsfeld & Cheney school of motivation.
Drum roll...treat them decently. Make them happier. Be the kind of employer that understands that people need balance in their lives especially when times are tough. This pervasive mentality of “you’re lucky to have a job” isn’t a sustainable management philosophy. Actually, it’s one step short of sitting in a rocking chair on your porch, sipping a cold glass of lemonade, bossing your “team.”
Many employers lack empathy when handling their staff but ALL want more productivity and profits. Here’s a story that indicates investing in perks and morale matters. Bloomberg News picked this up from Science journal. I’m just taking it in a new direction.
Harvard University recently surveyed 2,200 people in real time via an iPhone application. 3/4 of the respondents were Americans. Ages ranged from 18-88. Findings?
People’s minds wander from the task at hand anywhere from 50% of the time to never lower than 30% -- which is only when they are making “whoppee” as The Newlywed Game used to call it. Equally disturbing is that rarely have they drifted off to a happy place.
If this data lends credence to your theory that most employees are lazy then shouldn’t you also buy into that there’s something you can do about it? The study could neither prove nor disprove a direct cause and effect between dreaming and smiling. But my point is why not err on the happy side?
The study says 1,000 hours of daydreaming is on the clock every year for the average employee. It also implies that it’s possible to reclaim almost 400 of those hours if the lab rat in question is well...stimulated and happy.
What’s the downside to stocking the kitchen with string cheese and Coke Zero? Or letting people take care of their doctor's appointment in the middle of the day? An investment in continuing education boosts the average employee’s job satisfaction and performance almost as much as a bump in salary.
You can be Scrooge -- dock someone an hour’s pay for -- pick any of your pathetic reasons -- but you just end up flushing another two-three hours away because you made that person want to drift off from the just increased drudgery that is their lives.
So in conclusion, less day dreaming = more productivity = more profit
See, some stories really can have a “Happy Ending.”
