Why it’s important to care about your employees.
I talk to my parents on the phone every other night, or whenever I’m curious about how they’re doing. Inevitably, our conversations always end up being about their company. I love talking business, so that’s perfectly fine by me.
Their company does Jeep Safari Tours all over Madeira, which is a small island in Portugal that was nominated the best island destination in the world. Because of that, there are thousands and thousands of tourists that visit the island every year. That makes us part of one of the best markets we could be part of, if not the best.
All that being said, we’re currently having trouble when it comes to putting together a good and efficient team of employees. Of course, I ask myself why that’s the case. And I can think of a couple of reasons, but in this post I’ll just talk about one of them. My mother. Allow me to explain.
My mother is a very peculiar person with a very strong personality. She’s had a very difficult life which is partly the reason why she behaves like that. Or at least that’s how she likes to justify it. I don’t particularly agree, but that’s beside the point.
I agree that it’s hard. It’s hard to trust employees when you see they’re not working hard to help the company reach its goals. When you find out they lie to your face. Not only is it hard, but it can get really frustrating as well. That’s exactly what happens to my mother. Her response to these events though, is probably the worst I can think of. She fights them.
No, she doesn’t punch them in the face, don’t worry. (Not that I know of, anyway!). Instead, she sees them as “enemies”. She tries to hide things from them, she tries to get back at them if they harm the company in any way, and worst of all, she sees nothing wrong with that.
I love my mother. She’s a huge part of my life and the reason why I am who I am. However, she can be extremely stubborn (in a bad way). Everything she knows about business she’s learned by doing. She is a Civil Engineer, so she’s never had the chance to study and learn about the importance of HR (Human Resources).
I ask her this all the time:
“How do you expect to put together a good team if the atmosphere in your company is always heavy, gray, hostile and chaotic?”
Company owners have two options, in my opinion:
1- If an employee is underperforming, it’s a necessity finding out why that is the case, and then trying to fix it. Help your employees. Help who’s trying to help you achieve your goals. Talk to them and get to know them, ask them what their personal goals are, and try to find a way to help them achieve those goals. They’ll most likely start overperforming if they feel like not only they’re working for you, as well as for their personal growth.
2- If option 1 doesn’t work, fire them. Don’t let one bad apple spoil the others.
Employees are human beings, not robots designed to absorb anything and everything that comes their way without being affected by it even in the slightest (yet). Talk to them and get to know them, ask them what their personal goals are, and try to find a way to help them achieve those goals. Even if you’re paying them, they’re spending their time working for you. They’re giving up part of their most valuable asset to help you accomplish your goals. That’s admirable, and I believe not many people share this perspective.
After all, your company would be nothing without them (unless you own a company that allows you to be a lone-wolf, of course). You need them, and they need you. Why not make every day at work as enjoyable as possible? Why make the atmosphere heavy and unpleasant? Employees — or rather, humans — like being valued. Care about them, and not only you’d be doing the right thing, but you’d also start to see huge results,
I dare you to tell me about a business that doesn’t benefit from a good employer-employee relationship.
While you think of one I’m just going to go live life and come back in 60 years to hear you out. BRB.
Click the ❤ if you think more people should care about their employees.
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Thanks for reading!
