“There are two reasons people do things…the real one, and the one that sounds good” – John P. Morgan
The World Economic Forum conducts a survey each year regarding the trust people have in different businesses and organizations. The survey participants include national governments, global companies, and large local companies. The category of organizations that consistently ranks in the highest trust category is “Non-Governmental Organizations” Would you like to know the category that has the worst perception? Yes, you guessed it…Politicians.
One of the questions I like to ask when I visit companies is: “What is it like to work for this company?” I am fascinated by the answers I receive. At one extreme, I hear, “You really want to know? They don’t tell us anything. We never know what is going on. We just put in our time and collect our check”. In other words, there is an inner circle, and they feel on the outside of it.
At the other end of the spectrum, I get this answer to the same question: “Oh I love working here. We have regular meetings where we each get a chance to participate. I just won a gift certificate for contributing an idea that was used. Do you want to know my idea?” (Prepare yourself for a longer conversation)
The message is this: Keeping people in the inner circle as much as possible builds strong engagement, fierce loyalty, higher customer satisfaction, much lower turnover, a greater ability to attract good people, and more productivity. Are these benefits enough to make you motivated? I thought so.
