Instead of primarily focusing on making money, Paula Marshall strives to build an atmosphere that focuses on employees and communication at The Bama Cos. Inc.
As CEO of the Oklahoma-based food manufacturing company, she focuses on people-centered surroundings as well as open communication between staff members. She thinks the key point to remember is that everyone is a human being and that everyone matters to the management in the company. She stresses this point in her new book, “Finding the Soul of Big Business.”
Smart Business spoke with Marshall on how to create an employee-centered business in corporate America.
What is the biggest challenge with a people-centered environment?
We have a phrase that we call ‘right people, right job.’ It’s challenging to put the right people in the proper jobs suited for them. That’s a big challenge for all of us. That is something important that we can all do, have the right people in the right jobs to have a better business.
What does it mean to have a people-centered business?
We have an employee advocate at every plant and every facility. We have health and wellness advocates and insurance advocates. Those folks are in the facilities to make sure that people aren’t having problems filing a claim, getting reimbursed or anything else that may be the problem. The health and wellness coordinator are there to help them with managing their weight, nutrition and stress. We try and focus on the whole person. Our advocates are there to help employees with problems, things that they feel embarrassed to talk about, or if they’re having issues with their boss, maybe they are afraid or don’t know how to approach the situation. The coordinators are there to have something we call ‘courageous conversation.’ We expect people to talk to each other when they have difficult issues and we encourage it. It’s a must in any business.
When an employee, manager or team member would like to say something to someone, in a lot of places, there is a lot of backbiting. We try to bring these issues out because we don’t want them to fester. If we let problems fester, then they can’t improve. Because we have a giving culture, we continually help people bring issues to the surface, talk about it, get it out, so it doesn’t fester. It really does impact the culture. I think a few years ago, people thought that I was a kook, and I really think that they thought a lot of these philosophies were just hooey. I don’t think they thought that these things were going to be important business drivers over the next few years. People are coming back to me and saying, ‘Wow, we should have started some of these things along time ago because they are really important and they do matter.’
