With the various mutations of the virus, it is as if the scourge of COVID-19 is not ready to leave humanity alone just yet. We are all being told that even full vaccination with two doses is not enough to give us immunity from this virulent affliction said to have been thrust upon mankind from the malevolent laboratory of some mindless scientists. So, even when you thought you were protected, being “fully” vaccinated, we have now been told that we will all need booster shots!
The new normal foisted upon us all has necessitated a shift in all dimensions of function and relationships. The workplace has almost totally morphed from brick and mortar to virtual functions. Some organisations that were unable to swiftly adapt to the new reality went belly up. Others who have been able to anticipate the change and adapt quickly enough have found out that flexibility is the new name of stability. Zoom has become the world’s biggest boardroom and the trend does not seem to be in a hurry to abate.
If anything at all, COVID-19 and its attendant challenges have brought to the fore among other things, the challenge of organisational resilience. What has been the major factor for sustainability and an enviable capacity for resilience that made it possible for some organisations to bounce back so easily from the setback occasioned by the virus? The secret is people. For many organisations, the onset of COVID-19 was a good opportunity to do what had always been implied in the leadership culture pre-COVID; demonstrate that people are expendable aspects of business conduct. They disengaged people so fast that one would have thought that the virus was an answer to their prayers! Most of such organisations became casualties of the pandemic. Others on the other hand simply brainstormed with their people on the way forward and how everyone would not only adapt to the new normal but become better by it. Consequently, through virtual brainstorming sessions, strategies evolved, working processes were rethought and redesigned, new technologies were employed and deployed. This was done in the recognition that people and machines complement, they don’t compete. Such organisations bounced back stronger.
In the real estate industry, it is said that the three most important words for success are, “Location, location, location.” I make bold to say that the three most important words in the success mantra of any organisation should be “People, people, people”! Products are made to serve people. Processes, no matter how technology-driven, are run by people. Prices are fixed by people and for people. Profits are generated by, for and from people. Packaging, promotion and presentation are all geared towards getting the attention of people. Simply put, the purpose of business is not profit. Profit is only a consequence of effectively serving people and solving their problems.
In my training and mentoring engagements with many entrepreneurs and corporate players, I love to ask the question, “Why are you in business?” At most time, the answers range from the desire to make profit, to being able to live a good life that makes it possible to afford the good things of life. Businesses run with this mindset hardly survive hard times, especially when people can find alternatives to them. Not being people-focused, they hardly take time to study changes in demography, customer preferences and the various options that become available on daily basis to the customer. Profit is what you get as a result when you solve a significant problem for a significant number of people in a significant way that makes them willing to reward you significantly. People are the cause, profit is the consequence. Your ability to keep that understanding behind all your operations and value offerings will determine how long and how well you stay in the market.
Organisations don’t become resilient because they are awash with capital. Without the right people using them to serve people, resources, no matter how abundant, will be squandered. What builds and sustains strong organisations is resourcefulness which is found in people, not machines and definitely not in resources or location, as important as those may be. This fact seems to be lost on many HR staff. Very often, HR executives believe that hiring and firing are their main tasks. I have seen the display of arrogance and a soulless aloofness to staff displayed by HR people who don’t seem to see the workforce beyond some expendable figures of statistics that can be thrown under the bus as convenient. When an organisation begins to treat its primary customer, the staff, as expendable factors of operation, it might as well begin singing its Nunc dimittis! I wish it would be written boldly and put on every wall in the workplace, “People are NOT a factor of our business. People are reason for our business”.
When we talk about people, we are looking at every sphere of the business, internal and external, where human engagement is essential. However, it must begin from within. No establishment can rise beyond the capacity of the people who run its processes, from the leadership to the least paid employee. Until your internal people buy into and rally round your vision, they cannot become effective brand ambassadors. I once consulted for a company that paid very high figures to engage top entertainers and highly visible social figures as Brand Ambassadors to promote its corporate image. Unfortunately, within its workforce, the disenchantment and disconnect of the staff from the message of the brand were so palpable except of course to the Management. The Management was obsessed with spending so much on adverts, billboards and endorsements (from people who did not even patronise them!) promoting a value and a promise that their internal human capacity dynamics could not supply. Of course, several of their external customers were very disappointed in their service delivery since it was delivered by half-hearted staff. The leaders were shocked when I did an x-ray of the situation for and with them!
Why are some organisations which don’t pay the best in terms of salaries able to attract and retain top talents while others who pay top dollar experience a high talent attrition rate and a high staff turnover? The answer is usually found in the management’s approach to the issues of diversity, sustainability, process, work environment and talent management. In other words, it boils down to the “heart” as opposed to the “pocket” of the business. Organisations that have a “heart” and are able to connect with the emotions and aspirations of their people, giving them unfettered opportunities to function at their best, warts, moles and all, even if they don’t pay much, will remain in business longer than those who only play with their “pocket” to pay, use and dump people. As a matter of fact, when the word goes around as it eventually does, people join and ‘use’ the “pocket”-driven organizations to climb higher on the career ladder and to enhance bargaining power as they climb.
How does an organization leverage on human resources? Let us examine the acronym P.E.O.P.L.E… continued.
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
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