1. business and industrial

By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
I find it shocking how quickly we forget the value,
power, and importance of our fellow humans.
Selfishness shoves its neck into our minds and we
actually believe that we’re more important than
another. As a leader or entrepreneur, this lapse of
emotional intelligence becomes an incredible liability.
I read a lot. Books, magazines, and blogs. I listen to podcasts, watch video presentations, and even meet
face-to-face with renown thought leaders. At the core, I’m addicted to knowledge. But even more, I’m as
competitive as they come. I’m always looking for shortcuts and identifying blindspots that can propel me
ahead of the crowd.
Interestingly, while on my journey of searching for the newest tactics or strategies for leading a great
company, I found the true solutions were told to me over 20 years prior. While I was only in grade school,
it was these timeless lessons of honesty, kindness, empathy, and love that have now become my most
powerful weapons in creating a successful business.
It’s my hope that you may recognize our employees are not parts but people. That you might
comprehend that every human life is worth exactly the same. It’s this mindset that will allow you to
trailblaze the competition. Below I have listed the seven key attitudes that boost company culture,
performance, and profit.
1 Above The Standard •
Compensation
particular business considers its people to
be its most valuable pieces.
What would you identify as your company’s
most valued asset? The usual answers to
that question would include product, brand,
physical space, R&D, etc. Not often would
you hear (at least not with sincerity) that a
The Container Store is different. Not only
does the retail company believe the hype,
it acts in accordance. CEO Kip Tindell,
author of the fittingly-titled new book
Uncontainable, recently discussed how
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
investing in employees helped make The
Container Store such a success.
Tindell explains that The Container Store
is founded on seven guiding principles. One
of those principles is that one great person
can be at least as productive as three good
people. This belief has the company hold
out for only the best possible hires to
join its team. Prospective employees go
through an arduous eight-part interview
process that focuses on identifying the
most productive and innovative workers
possible. When found, those people get
paid.
to be easily replaceable. In fact, maintaining
consistency in its workforce offers the
company a valuable line of continuity that
benefits all invested parties. Tindell made
this statement:
“People join The Container Store and they
never leave. I mean our turnover is single
digit in an industry that averages triple digit,
and pay is part of that... The average fulltime sales person in the store makes about
$48,000, which is not an enormous amount of
money but it’s a lot of money, it’s a whole lot of
money for a retail sales position...”
In an era when income inequality and
stagnant wages have become major national
issues, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a
company pay many of its low-level workers
so well. Fortune Magazine agrees, as The
Container Store has been named one of
its “100 Best Companies to Work For” a
whopping 15 years in a row. Four of those
years saw the company ranked in the top 2, a
fact of which Tindell is quite proud:
The company operates as an inverted
pyramid. Tindell, as CEO, makes
“substantially less than industry average.”
Meanwhile, employees who interact most
with customers make “well above industry
average,” as much as 50-100% higher
depending on the region. And unlike many
companies, The Container Store doesn’t
consider the low heads on its totem pole
“You’re getting three times the productivity at
only 50 to 100 percent higher labor costs. So the
employee wins because she’s getting paid 50
percent more than somebody else would likely
pay her, the company wins because it’s getting
three times the productivity at only 50 percent
higher cost, and the customer wins because
they’re getting this engaged, great employee.”
“When you go in the stores the people that wait
on you have been there for four years or eight
years or even 12 years, they love their jobs and
they’re truly interested in your storage and
organization problem. So, we’re not advocates
of paying mediocre people well, we enjoy
excellence, we insist on a meritocracy and we
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Greed, in the
end... fails even
the greedy.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
really believe in paying great people well; we
give much bigger than usual annual increases.
I’ll look forward to the day when we have people
on the sales floor making $100,000 a year.”
The Container Store’s employees are
well-qualified, well-trained, and wellcompensated. This results in both elevated
productivity and a collective sense of
pride. Tindell explains that the company’s
stern meritocracy communicates to
employees that windows of opportunity and
advancement are always open. It’s these
feelings of pride and hope, as well as a desire
to work hard and find solutions, that are but
the surface results of the company’s firm
investment in the quality of its workforce.
The question then rises: Are you valuing your
best workers as you should? Are you paying
your people well?
2 It’s About The Feeling • Empathy
The traditional view of management is
to drive results at all costs. Be hard on
employees and they will perform. Many
leaders believe that employees’ personal
lives don’t matter, as they have nothing
to do with work. Yet we know today that
employees’ personal and professional lives
do collide.
Today’s workplace environment calls
for an evolved way of management and
of leadership. Today’s managers need to
tap into other motivators to get results
and inspire the best performance from
employees.
Employees are first human beings. And
we need managers to acknowledge and
incorporate the social emotions essential to
performance. One such emotion we need to
see more of in our workplaces is empathy.
Brené Brown explains empathy as a
driver of connection. It is a bonding agent
that strengthens relationships. It is one
human being connecting with another,
acknowledging a person’s circumstance
without diminishing or rationalizing it.
Empathy is an acknowledgement
without judgment.
Empathy is confidence. Empathy is
humanistic. Empathetic managers disregard
the traditional view of management and
want to relate with employees to inspire
and motivate. Three key elements fuel the
empathetic leader.
Connection
Empathetic leaders recognize the human
drive to bond is a workplace motivator. It
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
is a leader’s upmost responsibility to create
a work environment that helps employees
believe they are wanted, that they belong
to the group. Researcher, author and
psychologist Matthew Lieberman wrote, “We
all have a need to belong. Signs that others
like, admire, and love us are central to our
well-being.”
Lieberman identifies in his book “Social:
The Factors That Help Create Connection”
that belonging, well-being, cooperation,
positive social regard, and even fairness are
critical. Consider each of these and what
emerges are inputs that encourage us to want
to know more about others. The curiosity
drives connection. Imagine these five factors
present in your team. How much more
productive would your team be? How much
ownership of results would your team claim?
Connection is fueled by empathy.
Consider this for a moment. Would you
feel a sense of belonging if your peers and
your manager were willing to learn from
your perspective? Imagine how this leads to
cooperation and how a sense of belonging and
cooperation can improve your well-being.
Connection is vital. An empathetic leader can
help be a cause for connection to be present in
their team.
Remember, not much is more powerful
than a servant leader who helps others
bring their best selves to the table.
Empathy thrives in an environment
where managers use these factors to help
employees unlock their best performance
and best selves. Empathy is a contributor
to workplace optimism. Empathy and
leadership are powerful together and
necessary for today’s workplaces and
teams.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate
yourself in the empathy department?
3 The Upside Of The Inside • Perks
During a trip to California last fall, I
stopped in to visit a friend of mine who
works at Dropbox. He zipped over to the
reception area to fetch me on a Razor
scooter, provided to employees to make
getting around the office faster (and
cooler), took me past the morning yoga
class currently in session, the fresh
squeezed juice station and granola wall, and
the made-to-order stir fry bar, to the plush
music room, equipped with instruments
and big soft couches arranged in a lounge/
bar atmosphere.
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
How you make
others feel about
themselves, says
a lot about you.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
At the time, I was struggling to raise
another round for my start-up, and was
packing my own lunch for the plane to
save money. It was as if I had walked into a
physical representation of the opportunity
costs of running my own company — and it
was painful.
games (e.g., pool, darts, and foosball) as well
as arcade games. Some companies took the
definition of “play space” to the next level.
For example, killerinfographics.com recently
added a “climbing wall and 2 kegerators with
locally brewed beer” for employees to enjoy at
any time.
I have never really lusted after material
things, and while rumors of free ondemand massages at the Google offices
always made me smile, the allure of
corporate perks was never enough to
lure me. But this trip to Dropbox got me
wondering. For companies that have cash
to burn who are trying to attract and retain
young powerful talent, what benefits are
best? Cost aside, I asked tech employees to
offer up their list of favorites, and got over
150 responses in less than two hours.
Employers want their employees to have fun,
which raises commitment and creativity
levels, but bosses also feel that their companies
get a lot more out of having game dens. As
Jay Graves, CTO of Double Encore (a mobile
design and development agency) explains, “I
like these types of things because they bring
people together who might not normally
interact on a day-to-day basis. Foosball, darts,
and video games are games that people play
in pairs, teams, or groups. Spending time
together, both while working and ‘off the clock,’
are key to (creating) a company’s culture
– especially one that depends largely on
collaborative efforts.” His company just added
Marvel vs. Capcom to their “game corridor”.
In addition to all of the traditional perks
like 401K matching funds and free
medical and dental benefits, employers
are becoming more innovative — and
employees love it! Based on my sample,
here are some of the most interesting and
popular perks.
Game Rooms
What appeals to twenty-something
techies? Games. Not surprisingly, a lot of
companies have game rooms with classic
Good Eats
Free food is always appreciated, and is popular
at every scale. Smaller companies offer
special weekly treats like the Doughnut Day
Thursdays at shopkeep.com or Pizza Fridays
at overit.com. “Every Friday our company
buys various kinds of pizza to share with our
employees,” says Overit employee Alison
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Krawczyk. “Although this may sound like a
simple idea, compared with start-ups who
offer retreats to faraway places, this treat is
not just about food. It gives us a chance for all
of the different departments to come together,
socialize and celebrate the end of the week. At
a small company with lots of work to do, we
spend most of our lunches at our desks. Pizza
Fridays allow everyone to take a break away
from the screens, and connect over something
good to eat.”
Other companies have opted for more of the
all-you-can-eat style goodies. Moz.com has
a never-ending cereal bar and apartmentlist.
com has a 24-7 on-tap keg to keep employees
happy. But for companies that can afford
it, free catered breakfasts and lunches are
definitely in vogue. ONTRAPORT offers
its employees their choice of two daily
breakfasts, including a breakfast burrito
bar, daily lunch including a salad bar and free
daily “Worksnax” including press juiced from
Ah Juice in Santa Barbara.
Some companies have figured out how to
get more bang for their perk buck by making
sponsored lunches media-worthy events.
For example, for the last 2 years every
Thursday has been Theme Day and Lunch at
goodbyecrutches.com. Themes have included
Jimmy Buffet Day, Smurf Day, and Pirate Day.
“For a 5 minute picture and a 15 minute lunch,
it’s got the best ROI of anything we do. It is a
great team building exercise that’s affordable,
evergreen and easy. Our lunches are great
content for social media (all the weekly
pictures get posted and shared) and it helps
us build relationships with both vendors and
customers,” owner Tom Schwab told me.
“These lunches are also a good recruiting tool
for the company. Those that like the culture
are drawn to us.” And the company takes
it a step further by turning these culinary
adventures into end-of-year gifts, too. “At the
end of the year, we give everyone a Snap Fish
‘Year Book’ of photos from the lunches we’ve
had. It’s a prized gift.” Talk about getting bang
for their buck!
Physical Health
While gym memberships or gym subsidies
are the most common health perk, many
companies are now bringing fitness into the
office by sponsoring yoga, pilates or crossfit.
Some companies, like Practice Fusion, have
given each employee a fitbit tracking device
to help them keep on top of their progress.
BTC Revolutions made it even more social by
giving their employees UP Bands and creating
a team online where they can share workout
successes and motivate each other.
Social exercise is not just for the wealthy
high tech companies. Gravity Payments has a
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Change begins
with where you
are, with what
you have, and
who you’re with.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
weekly running club, where team members can
be excused from their work for an hour to go on
an organized run around the neighborhood.
”We find this helps clear people’s minds,
provide a mental break, and increases
camaraderie among employees,” reports
employee Ryan Pirkle. WizeHive UX designer
Avi Zuber told me his company promotes
regular exercise challenges. “These get us
up from our desks and moving our bodies at
least once a day. It’s not all that competitive
and it gives us all a great breather.” These ideas
cost little to implement and are perfect for new
companies trying to prioritize employee health
and increase loyalty and cohesion along with
fitness.
While not nearly as common, some companies
are encouraging fitness by subsidizing
employee enrolment fees in races and other
fitness challenges. For example, last year
Kount’s Marketing Program Manager Jennifer
Howard and VP of Operations Rich Stuppy
participated in the Boise Dirty Dash on the
company’s dime.
Mental Health
Health perks are not just limited to the
physical realm. Employees at Medallia in
Palo Alto, Calif., are given cash to “seek out
and overcome their fears with a therapist,
whether business-related or personal.” Some
have taken professional boxing courses,
others singing or dancing lessons, and one
employee who “never felt he was funny
and didn’t like public speaking” learned to
do a stand-up comedy routine and gave a
performance at the company which his wife
and kids attended.
Time Off
Interestingly, most of the employees today
get more than the traditional two weeks paid
vacation. A growing number of companies
offer unlimited vacation days (modeled off
Netflix and Hubspot), while others, like
Moz, give employees an additional incentive
to take the days they are entitled to. “Our
biggest (and in my opinion, best) perk is our
paid vacation policy,” one Moz employee
told me. “To encourage the staff to use their
vacation time (21 days is standard for all
employees), the company gives us a bonus
$3,000 in vacation reimbursements for food,
lodging, entertainment, and transportation.
Our team has gone everywhere from
Iceland to India using that bonus!” The CEO
believes these perks are essential to keeping
amazing people on his team.
A number of companies are now following
the 4-day work week model. Jacques
Bastien, the young CEO of Boogie, is trying
out a 4-day work week / 2 hour lunch combo
with his team of eight. “In most cases, we
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
work from 8AM – 1PM, take a two hour lunch
break, then start back at 3:00PM. We then work
from 3:00PM – 7PM. This means we work
9 hours a day and 36 hours a week. We close
the office on Wednesday so we don’t work for
more than 2 days consecutively. With this new
schedule, we all have more time to handle our
personal lives, and we get an extra 52 vacation
days a year (technically speaking).
Paid maternity/paternity leave is another
important benefit for employees. Paul Hibler,
Founder of start-up American Gonzo Food
Corporation, gives all managers 1 extra week’s
paid time off when they have a child or adopt
(separate from disability or FMLA).
Paid sabbaticals also appear to be on the rise.
For example, Capterra offers a five-week, fullypaid sabbatical every five years to
each of its employees. The CEO pointed out
that cost to the company is five weeks of
productivity or “10% of their work
in the year that they take their sabbatical
but only 2% over the course of their fiveyear employment.” He thinks the benefit to
the company and the employee’s health and
personal growth is well worth the cost.
Finally, I was pleased to see that many
companies offer paid leave for community
service projects. Some organize office service
days, and many will match charitable donations
to the community up to a certain amount.
Company Retreats
Company outings range all over the map
from happy hours to full celebratory
vacations. According to Tarek Pertew
(whose company focuses on connecting
talent with young, hiring companies),
Expensify represents one extreme. They
bring their employees on annual monthlong company trips to an exotic location.
2013’s destination was Dubrovnik. While
a month of travels sounds like fun, for
families with kids you have to wonder if this
would really be a manageable perk.
Tarek also told me about AirBnB’s “local
destinations”, which sounded like fun,
too. Seemingly, AirBNB has built “mini
cultural destinations” throughout their SF
office. “So if your team wanted to go to Bali
for a week, they would book that trip and
simply go the 3rd floor, where an entire area
has been designed to feel like an AirBNB
location in Bali.”
Freebies
Most companies offer their employees
free or at-cost versions of whatever they
sell (e.g., memberships, furniture, courses,
cars, etc.), and that is definitely nice if
you happen to like or need whatever the
company you work for is offering. A lot of
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
companies offer other one off perks or freebies
as well, including:
• Netflix subscriptions
• Magazine subscriptions
• Tickets to sporting games and movies
• Customized shoes (usually Nikes or
Converse)
• Free make-up or spa services
• Babysitting
• Petsitting
• Technology products (MacBook Airs, iPads,
iPhones, iPods, and LED Monitors were the
most popular)
Summary
While the companies above battle to keep
employees happy with increasingly elaborate
perks, owners like Patrick Lynch from The
Frontier Group and I are living in a different
reality. “I would like to offer a somewhat
different perk that is incredibly important but
not quite as sexy: continued employment.
There are countless small business owners like
myself that sacrifice personal compensation
for the sake of keeping their team in place —
not having to downsize during tough times,
not having to reduce hours. This may not be as
cool as a juice bar or foosball table, but it shows
employees that their CEO cares and values
them. I think that is awesome.” I have to agree.
4 Driving People • Motivation
In the early 1900’s, the practice of scientific
management was born. The brainchild
of Fredrick Winslow Taylor, scientific
management was based on the premise
that all work consisted largely of simple,
uninteresting tasks, and that the only viable
method to get people to undertake these tasks
was to incentivize them properly and monitor
them carefully.
Put simply, in order to get as much
productivity out of your workers as possible,
you must reward the behavior you seek,
and punish the behavior you discourage –
otherwise known as the carrot-and-stick
approach.
This theory assumes that the main drive
which powers human behavior is the drive
to respond to rewards and punishments in
our environment. As Daniel Pink notes in
his book Drive, this suggests “human beings
aren’t much different from horses – that the
way to get us moving in the right direction is
by dangling a crunchier carrot or wielding a
sharper stick.”
However, scientists began to encounter
situations during their experiments where
the reward-punishment drive wasn’t
producing the expected performance results.
This led to the discovery of a possible third
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
If your actions
inspire others
to dream more,
learn more, do
more and
become more,
you are a leader.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
drive for human behavior.
The Third Drive
Scientists have long known that two main
drives power human behavior – the biological
drive including hunger, thirst and sex and the
reward-punishment drive already discussed.
However in 1949, Harry F. Harlow a professor
of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin,
argued for a third drive – intrinsic motivation
– the joy of the task itself.
His theory was based on studies of primate
behavior when solving puzzles. Harlow found
that when presented with a puzzle, monkeys
seemed to enjoy solving the puzzles without
the presence or expectation of rewards. He
found these monkeys, driven by intrinsic
motivation, solved the puzzles quicker and
more accurately than monkeys who received
food rewards.
Edward Deci, a university psychology
graduate student, went on to replicate these
findings with humans in 1969, concluding
that human beings have an “inherent
tendency to seek out novelty and challenges,
to extend and exercise their capabilities, to
explore, and to learn.”
Why the Carrot-and-Stick Approach
Doesn’t Always Work
Studies such as the ones mentioned
previously demonstrated that the carrot-andstick approach was flawed. It worked well for
some tasks, but not others. Why?
The carrot-and-stick approach worked
well for typical tasks of the early 20th
century – routine, unchallenging and highly
controlled. For these tasks, where the process
is straightforward and lateral thinking is
not required, rewards can provide a small
motivational boost without any harmful side
effects.
But jobs in the 21st century have changed
dramatically. They have become more
complex, more interesting and more selfdirected, and this is where the carrot-andstick approach has become unstuck.
Pink’s book demonstrates that with the
complex and more creative style of 21st
century jobs, traditional rewards can actually
lead to less of what is wanted and more of
what is not wanted.
He provides ample evidence to support the
notion that this traditional approach can
result in:
• Diminished intrinsic motivation (the
third drive);
• Lower performance;
• Less creativity;
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
• “Crowding out” of good behavior;
• Unethical behavior;
• Addictions; and
• Short-term thinking.
There are a number of studies cited in the
book, and it makes for interesting reading if
you can spare a few hours to read the book, but
let me use one example to illustrate his claim
about rewards leading to reduced performance
and creativity.
Organizations should focus on these drives
when managing their team by creating
environments which focus on our innate need
to direct our own lives (autonomy), to learn
and create new things (mastery), and to do
better by ourselves and our world (purpose).
Here are a few initiatives that fit with Pink’s
revised motivation theory which will assist
your organization in motivating its employees
in the correct way:
Autonomy
Provide employees with autonomy over some
(or all) of the four main aspects of work:
• When they do it (time):
Consider switching to a ROWE (results-only
work environment) which focuses more on the
output (result) rather than the time/schedule,
allowing employees to have flexibility over
when they complete tasks.
• How they do it (technique):
Don’t dictate how employees should
complete their tasks. Provide initial
guidance and then allow them to tackle the
project in the way they see fit rather than
having to follow a strict procedure.
• Whom they do it with (team):
Although this can be the hardest form of
autonomy to embrace, allow employees
some choice over who they work with. If it
would be inappropriate to involve them in
the recruitment/selection process, instead
allow employees to work on open-source
projects where they have the ability to
assemble their own teams.
• What they do (task):
Allow employees to have regular ‘creative’
days where they can work on any project/
problem they wish – there is empirical
evidence which shows that many new
initiatives are often generated during this
‘creative free time’.
Mastery
Allow employees to become better at
something that matters to them:
Provide “Goldilocks tasks” – Pink uses the
term “Goldilocks tasks” to describe those
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
tasks which are neither overly difficult nor
overly simple – these tasks allow employees
to extend themselves and develop their skills
further. The risk of providing tasks that
fall short of an employee’s capabilities is
boredom, and the risk of providing tasks that
exceed their capabilities is anxiety.
Create an environment where mastery
is possible – to foster an environment of
learning and development, four essentials are
required – autonomy, clear goals, immediate
feedback and Goldilocks tasks.
Purpose
Take steps to fulfil employees’ natural desire
to contribute to a cause greater and more
enduring than themselves:
• Communicate the purpose:
Make sure employees know and understand
the organization’s purpose goals not just its
profit goals. Employees who understand the
purpose and vision of their organization and
how their individual roles contribute to this
purpose are more likely to be satisfied in their
work.
• Place equal emphasis on purpose
maximization as you do on profit
maximization:
Research shows that the attainment of profit
goals has no impact on a person’s well-being
and actually contributes to their ill-being.
Organizational and individual goals should
focus on purpose as well as profit. Many
successful companies are now using profit as
the catalyst to pursuing purpose, rather than
the objective.
• Use purpose-oriented words:
Talk about the organization as a united
team by using words such as “us” and “we”,
this will inspire employees to talk about the
organization in the same way and feel a part of
the greater cause.
5 I Found My People • Culture
Company culture has become a huge
buzzword in the business and entrepreneurial
spaces lately. Some experts advocate free
lunches and dry cleaning as a way to boost
morale, while others say this just puts
pressure on employees to work longer hours.
Some think the open office floor plan is the
best thing since sliced bread; others say it’s
slowly killing your workers.
Creating a great company culture can feel
like a minefield, but everywhere you turn are
warnings of what happens when a company
culture goes awry.
There’s a reason the oft-cited Gallup survey
discovered 70% of American workers are
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Customers will
never love a
company until
its employees
love it first.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
disengaged on the job. Companies can easily
get caught up in the day-to-day struggles
and forget the importance of creating an
unbelievable culture for employees.
This is especially important for
entrepreneurs and small businesses to keep
in mind. You don’t need to be a Fortune 500
company to develop and implement a great
company culture. You don’t need Facebook’s
money, Zappos’s popularity, or even an office
slide to build the culture you want. Bells and
whistles are great, and no one is about to
turn down a free lunch, but sometimes these
perks that really feel like culture can distract
leadership from doing the hard work of
building it from scratch.
Here are just a few ways to build a great
company culture from the ground up, and
they can work for your company whether it’s
staffed with 10 or 1,000 people:
Make It Personal
One of the most important aspects of
developing a brand voice is to keep it
consistently authentic. A good company
culture should strive for the same
authenticity, and this voice should come
from the founder in the case of a startup, or
the leadership team in the case of a larger
organization. Your culture needs to be an
extension of your own consistently held
and demonstrated beliefs, along with a clear
mission that goes beyond dollars and cents.
In other words, how are you going to change
the world? There’s nothing more personal
than creating meaning in one’s work, and
life.
You should be personally invested in
the fate of your company; after all, it’s
your baby. Therefore, your fingerprints
should be clearly visible on everything
in your company, and its culture should
be a reflection of who you are as a person
and what you care about. This is the best
way to ensure authenticity, and therefore
stickiness.
Ask yourself why you wanted to create this
company, what you want to give back to the
world, and what your vision for the future
entails. Most importantly, build a company
that you would want to be a part of and that
will, in some way, change the world for the
better. Keep in mind you’re not just building
a company, you’re also building a place to
work that you believe will be the greatest
place to work in the history of the world, bar
none.
Find A Way To Communicate Your
Vision
Communication is key, whether it’s
selling your idea to investors or selling
your company culture to employees. Yet
communication is one place many leaders
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PEOPLE MATTER
fall down on the job, especially when it
comes to company culture. According to
a study by SIS International Research,
70% of small to midsize businesses claim
ineffective communication is their primary
problem.
If a founder is a great communicator, it’s
pretty easy early on to get the culture
moving in the right direction. However, not
every founder is gifted with a silver tongue
and the ability to easily motivate a team,
small or large. If so, you’ll need to find some
ways to share the vision of the company
outside of your personal communication
style. There are plenty of ways to
communicate company culture, including
visually through your organization’s
physical spaces.
If you want to build a collaborative culture,
for example, make collaboration an
important part of every workday. You can
do this by holding frequent brainstorming
meetings and creating open spaces in the
office where creativity can occur. Hang up
whiteboards, schedule innovation retreats,
and hire people with creativity baked into
their DNA.
Put People First
I fundamentally believe we have it
backwards in the U.S.—we build our
lives around our jobs instead of the other
way around. This leads to stress and
unhappiness, which in turn leads to poor
productivity and poor outcomes at work.
Americans are seriously stressed; a study
from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, and the Harvard School of
Public Health found almost half of all
Americans had experienced a great deal of
stress in the past year. In the top three most
stressful events, under serious illness and
death of a loved one, was workplace stress.
We need to start treating people like human
beings, not like cogs in a productivity
machine. Look at the individual first and
their role second and relate to employees on
a more human level.
When employees feel cared about as people,
I’ve found they do their best work. They also
stay longer, work harder, and produce more,
which makes caring an amazing rate of
increase. It’s a win-win for everyone.
This attitude also trickles down into
customer service, since relating to others
on a human level should be so wholly baked
into company culture. You can’t create a
company without great people, and you
can’t create a good company culture without
recognizing the humanity in your employees.
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Be kind, for
everyone you
meet is fighting
a hard battle.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
You don’t need an unlimited budget or
fancy perks to create a great culture with
the ability to scale with your company. You
just need to be authentic, communicate
your vision, and care about your growing
workforce.
6 I Didn’t See That Coming •
Expectations
Managing expectations is a vastly
underutilized skill, in my opinion. Not
everyone does it, but maybe if more did, we
could avoid a lot of the day-to-day drama
that goes on in every office.
Folks who know how to manage
expectations are able to more seamlessly
navigate the choppy waters of their
business. Why? Because they know how
to communicate, organize, and direct
conversations around things getting done.
Follow these four practical tips to improve
your own ability to manage expectations.
Make No Assumptions
People often get into hot water when they
assume a co-worker, vendor, or supervisor
knows what they expect or even what
they’re talking about. My first piece of
advice is making sure you get context.
Don’t fall into the trap of assuming someone
has the same understanding of a situation,
project, deadline, or task that you do. You can
avoid this pitfall by having a conversation in
which you openly discuss what’s expected, how
it might be accomplished, and how success
will be measured. Remember to leave plenty
of opportunities for questions. This is also
the time to agree and commit to what will be
delivered, when. When something is going
to be completed is one of the most common
points of miscommunication. Which leads me
to my next tip...
Communicate, Communicate, &
Communicate
One of the best ways to manage expectations is
to make sure you communicate with everyone
on a frequent basis. In the early stages of a
new project or as a key milestone or deadline
approaches, you may want to even overcommunicate.
Sure, it might be more work on your part, but
it’s especially important if you have a new team
that isn’t used to working together, or new
leadership that may not have developed a level
of trust in the team’s ability to deliver. Better
safe than sorry.
By holding frequent check-ins throughout the
course of a project, you also have the chance to
provide real-time status updates and manage
any delays, risks, or blockers. When you’re
proactively honest and transparent in your
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PEOPLE MATTER
communication, you have room to put a
Plan B in place, if needed, or the flexibility
of making new decisions as you move
toward the finish line. Being honest about
a delay is a thousand times better than
promising to deliver and then missing your
deadline.
Pushing Back is OK
A huge piece of managing expectations is
the actual expectation, right?
You have to be comfortable that the
expectations are realistic and achievable.
If they’re not, you can – and should – push
back. The key here is pushing back in
a way that balances the organization’s
needs and the team’s abilities. Being open
about what can be delivered and what the
plan is to bring in the rest can go a long
way in instilling confidence and getting
the go-ahead. If you can nail the fine art
of pushback, you’ve won half the battle of
managing expectations successfully.
Don’t Over-Manage Expectations
Despite all this emphasis on managing
expectations, it’s important to be relaxed
about the process. We are dealing with the
greatest variable ever – human beings – so
if you are seeking a perfect understanding
of what people expect, you will forever be
frustrated.
Needs change. Markets evolve. People wake up
in the morning wanting something different
from the night before. If you attempt to
anticipate all of this you will drive yourself
crazy.
All you need to do is know enough and explain
enough to keep employees happy, or keep your
email list or blog growing, or meet whatever
goal you have. There is always room for
improvement, so know what is “enough” for
your own needs.
In other words, manage your own expectations
before you begin managing those of others.
7 Thanks For Saying That •
Appreciation
In case your direct reports didn’t send
you enough subtle reminders, Employee
Appreciation Day was last week. Just kidding.
But while it’s great to have a day dedicated to
giving your employees a little extra love, we
think of it kind of like we think of Valentine’s
Day: Shouldn’t you be telling the ones you
appreciate how much they mean to you every
day?
OK, every single day might be a little
excessive—but making sure your employees
know how much they mean to you should be
far more frequent than a once-a-year affair.
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Managing
expectations
is the most
important thing
a leader will
ever do.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Not sure where to start? Here are eight simple
things you can give your employees that will
show how much you appreciate what they do
every day.
Your Ear
Set up casual, one-on-one coffee meetings
with each of your direct reports, but instead
of spending the time talking about their
performance, take some time to ask them a
little more about their careers, hopes, and
dreams. Ask them what their goals are, and
think about how you can help them. Get their
thoughts on how their jobs are going, and see
if there’s anything you can do to help them
work better. Give them an opportunity to give
you feedback.
By spending some time listening to what
your employees want (and then, to the best
of your abilities, following through or at least
following up to let them know you’re doing
your best to help), they’ll understand that
you’re not just there to make them do work,
you want to help them succeed.
Very Specific Compliments
Sure, you know giving your employees
compliments is a good thing. But do you
know what kind of compliments are the most
valuable?
One management expert Katie Douthwaite
suggests that it’s important to be super
specific with your compliments:
For example, let’s say you had an employee
who went the extra mile to land a new client:
Good: “Thanks for your hard work, Cathy!”
Better: “Thanks for putting in so much hard
work to win over that new client, Cathy!”
Best: “Cathy, I can’t tell you how much I
appreciate your hard work to land the new
Smith account. We’ve been after that account
for several months, so you really stepped up to
close an important deal. This is a huge win for
you, our team, and the entire company.”
In this example, the “good” version is
just too general—that compliment could
be aimed at any person or task. “Better”
mentions the specific accomplishment,
which is an improvement, but “best” is the
obvious winner. Not only does it mention the
particular achievement, but it explains why it
was so important and who benefited from it.
Opportunities
Finding opportunities for your employees
is a great way to show that you’ve really got
their backs. From the fun (attending cool
industry events in your place, letting them use
your office with a view for the afternoon) to
the seriously career-boosting (getting them
company tickets to a conference, setting up
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
a meeting with a higher-up) your employees
will appreciate that you’re doing what you can
to help them grow and get the most out of their
jobs.
Trust
Showing employees that you trust them is
always a huge compliment. It means that
you think their work quality is high enough
that you don’t feel the need to worry about
them. And the easiest way to show trust in the
workplace? Give your team members a little
extra ownership over something. Whether it’s
a task they no longer need to run by you (“I
think you’re ready to send the client emails
without me looking at them moving forward”)
or a new project or process you can hand over
(“I want to pass the responsibility of managing
freelancers over to you—I think you’ll do a
stellar job!”), try and think of something you
can entrust your top employees with.
as important as proving you appreciate them
as employees. And a great way to do that is to
chat with them sometimes about things going
on outside of work.
Try leaving your door open (and maybe
putting a candy jar on your desk to entice
people to come in) and casually chatting
with people as they pass by. Ask about their
families, their hobbies, and the like. Getting
to know your employees—and remembering
some of the details to ask about again later—
will show that you know they’re more than
just workhorses.
A quick disclaimer here: If they already have
too much on their plates, shifting work to
them without talking about what they can deprioritize might leave your employees feeling a
little less than appreciated.
Outside Feedback
Depending on your employees’ positions
in the company, they may not get to hear
the fantastic feedback from customers or
higher-ups that pass through your desk on
the regular. So, make it habit of forwarding
these things along. Did your boss particularly
enjoy Joe’s latest presentation? Tell him!
Did a customer write in raving about her
experience with Sarah? She’ll love hearing
about it!
An Open Door
It’s easy to get stuck in the daily grind and
never really interact with your employees
outside of asking when you’re going to get that
report you assigned. But showing your staffers
you appreciate them as people can be almost
Another way to do this is to foster positive
feedback among your team. Try to create easy
venues for your employees to recognize each
other. Maybe at the weekly meeting, everyone
has to share an example of when they noticed
someone going above and beyond. Or, as
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
A person
who feels
appreciated will
always do more
than what is
expected.
#PeopleOverProfit
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Douthwaite suggests, you could put up a
public whiteboard as a wall of recognition,
where employees can jot down their coworkers’ accomplishments for the rest of the
team to see. (Start by writing a few of your
own to get people going!)
Worksheet: Please complete the next page by
rating yourself in each of the People Matter
Attitudes.
Content Supported By:
S1: http://bigthink.com/think-tank/it-pays-to-pay-your-employes-wellwith-ceo-kip-tindell
S:2 http://switchandshift.com/empathy-and-good-managers
A Treat
This one is kind of obvious, but an easy way to
appreciate your team members is by getting
them a little treat. Surprise everyone with
some mid-afternoon donuts and coffee, order
in lunch for the group today, or get a happy
hour with your employees on the calendar
(and make sure they know you’re footing the
bill).
S3: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kateharrison/2014/02/19/the-mostpopular-employee-perks-of-2014/
S4: https://checkside.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/motivation-revampeda-summary-of-daniel-h-pinks-new-theory-of-what-motivates-us/
S5: http://www.fastcompany.com/3034782/the-future-of-work/3-stepsto-build-a-company-culture-that-makes-everyone-happy
S:6 http://www.inc.com/kimberly-weisul/four-strategies-to-raise-profitsby-paying-employees-more.html
Thanks
Sometimes, just saying a hearty “Thank you!”
is all your employees really need to hear today.
It shows you’re paying attention to the work
they’re doing and that you know how much it
matters to the company.
Summary
Creating a successful organization comes
from a heart for people. Our people are our
engine, our fuel, and the very fight we have in
the competition.
I challenge you to rethink your leadership
style to incorporate all 7 of the People Matter
Attitudes in hopes you might create an
unstoppable enterprise.
Copyright © 2015 Dale Partridge, Inc.
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By Dale Partridge
PEOPLE MATTER
Where do you rate yourself or your company
in each of the 7 People Matter Attitudes?
1. Providing Generous Compensation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
9
10
2. Offering Empathy
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
3. Being Generous With Perks
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
9
10
9
10
4. Motivating People
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
5. Creating Culture
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
6. Managing Expectation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
9
10
7. Giving Appreciation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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