Two days. Two stories.

It started at a recent lunch with a past client.  She’s a senior executive who’s been around the board rooms of some of Canada’s largest and most influential companies for most of her career.  We were talking about the ‘soft’ side of institutional life and the potential power there is in strengthening the employee relationship.   “I agree with you”, she said.  Then came the bomb… ”but unfortunately the executives I know just aren’t interested.  This is simply not on the agenda in the C-Suite”.

Fast forward a few days and I’m attending an evening with Dr. Jody Heymann, Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Social Policy and head of McGill’s institute for Health and Social Policy.  She and Magda Barrera co-authored the recently published book “Profit at the Bottom of the Ladder: Creating Value by Investing in Your Workforce”.  After years of research their conclusions are simple – listen to employees [especially those ‘at the bottom’], treat them with respect and you will reap the rewards of higher profits. This is not necessarily new news.  Nor is it a surprise.  It makes sense that you treat people well and they will be more engaged and productive.

So, how do we think about this apparent discrepancy between the research results and C-suite priorities?  What’s going on?

 

 

Tags: Behaviour change, Employees, Humanizing, Reaching the front lines, Relationship, Work