Don’t you find this strange? One of the first things I would do as an employer would be to survey my employees to find out how they are managing. Then, if I learned that there were any that were in a difficult situation, I would take action to help them alleviate their difficulties. Yet no-one seems to have done this. You have to ask the question, “Why not?”

I have little doubt that this stems from historic attitudes, rooted in the concept of employees as “hires.”  You persist in seeing the relationship as a contractual one. You thus avoid doing anything that risks personalising it. So, because the terms are mutually agreed, if the employee sees them as unsatisfactory, it is up to the employee to try to change them. You will only accommodate the possibility if you can “afford” to do so: i.e. if the effect on profits is acceptable.

This conundrum can be easily reversed by considering employees as assets. When you do this, you:

• Acknowledge their value;
• Treat them differently – not least by recognising their humanity and the fact that they are also investing in your business;
• Manage and account for them differently;
• Lay the foundation for a development partnership that fosters greater commitment and thus better long-term performance.

Think of it this way. Why do we always assume that hard times or a recession inevitably mean lay-offs and job losses? If we truly recognised the value of employees we would be far less inclined to turn to redundancy as an option and sacrifice the value, energy and capability that goes with it. In fact, in times like these, it would go a long way towards mitigating the cost of living crisis, minimising its impact and accelerating progress out of it.  

So if you are seriously looking for solutions, why not contact me and explore my Every Individual Matters Model and how it will enable you to fulfil these goals and transform your performance.