“Companies earn the bad attitudes of their people.”

That is certainly a statement that doesn’t pull any punches! And, if it is true, then the Towers Perrin 2007 Global Workforce Survey revealing that 79% of employees are disengaged, is clear evidence that most organisations have a serious problem.   

So the $64,000 question is, “Is it true?” As it is largely a statement of opinion that probably isn’t possible to answer categorically, without a lot of research which I don’t have, but its validity can be established by looking at the source: Hal Rosenbluth, who made the statement in his book, “The Customer Comes Second.” 

As someone who definitely “walked the talk” he is unquestionably someone whose opinion has to be respected. In fact I would even go so far as to say, after the remarkable success he achieved putting his people first, he is certainly someone who should be listened to, and more effort made to follow his example. As I wrote last week, his book is a panacea for the ills of employee disengagement highlighted by the Towers Perrin and justifies the Zealise approach totally.

Let’s just have a look at some of the other things he says.

“Cries from corporate America lament a lack of motivation in the workplace, absenteeism, turnover, apathy, lethargy, and a host of other evils that drag production in our country down and make us a less fierce global competitor. The origin of these maladies is a lack of happiness in the workplace. Without it, the best-planned processes, the finest tools, and most marketable products go to waste. Without it, eventually all else breaks down.” (Page 35) And as the survey shows, its not just in the US.

“If more corporations paid as much attention to their people as they do to politics, public image and increased profits, everything else would fall into place. Profits are the natural extension of happiness in the workplace.” (P 36) Don’t you think treating people as human assets will provide a mechanism to ensure this?

“Most of us choose our spouse with care and rear our children with nurturing and compassionate attention. Yet we tend to select the people that will join our company on the basis of an interview or two, and once they have joined, they often find that they must fend for themselves.”

“Service begins in the heart. Too often a person’s job history carries more weight than his or her human values.” (P 51) As I wrote last week, how can you possibly expect to deliver customer delight if a person’s job description carries more weight than the person doing the job?

That’s just the first quarter of the book, and there’s enough wisdom there to start a revolution. The tragedy is that it is so fundamental it should not need a revolution, but as the Towers Perrin survey shows; one is clearly needed!