Dear Recession,
I know many people are upset with you. I am not surprised. You have made things tough for many organizations. But at the same time you have made us better. So here are ten things I wanted to thank you for:
1. For forcing us to get rid of the deadwood and the non-performing employees who felt all they had to do was simply to show up for work.
2. For the reminder that we are stronger and more profitable in some areas of our business than others, and that we should always focus on our strengths because they provide the greatest value to our customers.
3. For helping us to relearn the value of customers and the need to focus on customer loyalty, not merely satisfaction, and to never miss an opportunity to do the extraordinary.
4. For reminding us that our people are our profits and that fewer of the “right” employees can consistently outperform more of the “wrong” employees. Fit matters and a greater effort to hire and retain the right employees drives greater results.
5. For a reminder that we must support an employee-focused workplace to be capable of creating a customer-focused workplace. We now are better connected to our employees’ talents, values and interests; we know them better and can better match them to their best performance areas.
6. For the reminder that every employee must add value or they are not needed on the team; all employees are now held accountable for results, ideas and solutions.
7. For forcing us to eliminate the barriers to communication, so that information can move more freely around the organization to accelerate action and responsiveness.
8. For reminding us that we (management) must be more visible, more human, more approachable and integrated in the performance of the employees; constant contact is critical to building strong relationships with employees to earn their loyalty and to know how to activate their performance.
9. For reminding us to use our employees to stay connected to our world through their worlds (social networks) as a means to grow and develop the business in a meaningful way.
10. For the lesson that even when things are tough, employees who are valued, respected and believe in what we stand for, have the reserves needed to pull through and do the extraordinary.
I have learned many valuable lessons that somehow got forgotten in better times. You have reminded me to watch the details, own the results and inspire my people. Though I don’t need this lesson often, I am pleased to have learned it today.
Best regards,
Jay Forte
Please forward this to someone who will benefit from it and contact me to help you reactivate the performance power of your people.
