Are your employees a commodity?
No way. Nay. Nah. Never. Heck no. Nix. Veto. Deny. Nope.
In other words, no!
One size does not fit all
Investopedia defines a commodity as “a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type… The quality of a given commodity may differ slightly, but it is essentially uniform across producers.”
Basically, commodities are interchangeable pieces with little to no variation.
If you’re employing a role that doesn’t interact with the public, performs a very limited task that’s repeated over and over again, and just anyone can walk in and do with little to no training — then perhaps you might be employing commodities.
But, that’s no way to run a business.
A successful business needs variety, specifically a variety of people to fill roles that leaders can’t. To do this, you need to understand the individual you’re bringing to your team, not just the body you’re plugging into a role.
People matter
You have a team of people because you can’t (or don’t have time to) perform the job yourself. You and your employees have an interdependent relationship, where it benefits you both to collaborate to get something done.
If you don’t care about your people, they won’t care about you.
When your team doesn’t care, you’ll get quicker turnover, less productivity and employees who have turned into clock-punching zombies. They don’t care about how well or poorly something’s being done, they perform just well enough to not get into trouble.
Consider how you treat other commodities
Picture a commodity that’s interchangeable in your mind, something like paper towels. You purchase one brand over another based on price, location, or convenience — not because of any kind of loyalty or preference.
Do your employees see your business this way? If they’re only there for a paycheck and will move onto the next place because it pays more, it’s closer to home, or it’s more convenient — you’re left having to find and train a new employee.
Care for your company
You’ve put blood, sweat and tears into your company. Do you really want a bunch of people who could care less about your business representing it?
While culture is something that grows organically at a company, leaders set the tone and help shape that culture. If you’ve established a culture of zero loyalty and care, employees will leave you the first chance they get.
Treating employees as interchangeable resources isn’t sustainable. You need to inspire them and appreciate what their individuality can bring to the team.
Engage your employees
Maybe you think, “Who cares about inspiring?! Just show up and do your job!”
Let’s go over some employee engagement stats, then.
Business2Community states: “Companies with engaged employees see 2.5X more revenue than companies with disengaged employees.”
If all you care about — and all your employees see you care about — is money, consider them checked-out and disengaged. Why would they bust their butts to line your pockets?
Your employees care job fulfillment just as much as they care about providing for themselves and their family.
When you show care and create an environment in which all members of an organization can and are willing to give their best each day, you transition a bunch of clock-punching zombies into an engaged workforce.
Connect your team of people to something bigger than themselves
Teams that are fully engaged and fulfilled in their work are up to 202% more productive. When your employees feel connected to their work and the company, they’ll be not only be more productive, but also more loyal.
Don’t just keep your team busy — show them their work matters, that it’s meaningful and valuable to the business.
Growth strategy
If you’re looking to grow your company — or at least prevent employees from leaving because they could care less about it — then treating your your team as something more than a commodity is essential.
So, how do go from where you are to having an engaged workforce?
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It will take time to figure out what works for you and your team, but there are some guidelines you can follow to get started.
Steps to employee engagement
- Inspire them by sharing the company vision and purpose
- Set near-term high-level company goals
- Identify objectives and strategies for accomplishing the goals
- Define what success looks like and how it will be measured
- Clearly align the daily activities to success strategies
It’s difficult to get a team to pull in the same direction. But if you can look beyond seeing employees as a commodity, see them as a unique individuals and reach for employee alignment to the company’s larger purpose, you’ll see greater growth potential, higher productivity and lower turnover.
A win for you and a win for your employees.
