Generally speaking, people
fall into two camps —
those who want to be
visible and those who want to
be invisible.
The latter group represents
that segment of people who
keep a low profile, aren’t very
social at work and tend to
eschew anything that draws
attention to him or her. Those
people are usually the minority.
Most people tend to identify
with the other group, and
while they’re not all looking
for the bright spotlight to
shine down upon them, they
do want to be noticed.
Nowhere is this truer than in
the workplace, where employees desperately want to be
more than just a number on a
ledger or a run-of-the-mill cog in the machine.
They want to be
seen, heard and,
most of all, valued
for their contributions.
With the carnage
continuing to rain
down and around
us like macabre
hellfire, now is a
good time to take a few
moments away from your survival tactics to show your
employees just how much
each of them means to your
organization.
One of the first lessons that
Walt Bettinger, president and
CEO of The Charles Schwab
Corp. and this month’s cover
story subject, learned was that
you need to value each person within an organization, no matter
what his or her job.
That simple tenet
was incorporated
into Bettinger’s management philosophy
and underscores his
belief that how you
treat your employees
portends your own
managerial success.
“If we fail as leaders of people, we will fail as business
executives,” he says.
A pat on the back or a “Good
job” goes a long way, and it
will linger long after this maelstrom has subsided and life
begins resembling something a
bit more normal.
Today, there is little doubt that
hard decisions must be made in order to ensure the future.
Sometimes that means letting
people go. When that happens,
put yourself in those people’s
shoes and handle the layoffs as
humanely as possible.
Then, for those people who
remain, make that extra effort
to notice them. It will prove
invaluable to helping your
organization survive tough
times.
Let’s face it: It’s a scary time
out there for everyone. Wanting
to be seen, heard, appreciated
and even comforted is only natural. For the moment that it
takes to do so, the payoff is
immeasurable.
Contact Editor Dustin Klein at
[email protected]
