Do you CARE where you work? The oft published, prolific blogger, and organization pundit Seth Godin, pointed out in a recent blog, “no organization cares about you but people, on the other hand, are perfectly capable of caring. If you want to build a caring organization, fill it with caring people and then get out of their way. When your organization punishes people for caring, don’t be surprised when people stop caring.”
I’m the CEO of a mid size company. I definitely care about every single person that works here, our customers, and our partners. Even though I think my values and intentions are clear, I am disappointed to learn when we do something to squeeze the “CARE” out of people. Someone, usually for a well-intended reason, will put a policy in place that can knock the common sense stuffing out of normally caring people. “Getting it right” involves reinforcing the belief that increasing profit and performance does not have to include policies and processes that turn normally caring people into insensitive cogs. Check out the company Zappos if you want an example where excellent profit and caring coexist just fine.
Every day I can look around the company and get a daily reminder about the importance of caring people at work. Our receptionist in our U.K. office cared enough to start a dialogue with me and others regarding a customer-facing system that could be enhanced. She was right, we took immediate action, and improved our processes.
Character Move: CARE about where you work by CARING where you work.
- Take a personal “care” gut check. If you have policies andor processes that turn you or your team into non-caring robots, have the courage to create a constructive dialogue to fix this. Often just putting a spotlight on something that exists without challenge can put “care” back into the system.
- When confronting the situation, remember to attack the process (not others) and always start with what and how you can do about it first. Engaging in a tough conversation is one way of showing that you care.
Every organization is simply made up of people. If we can’t care at work, what a waste! This week put a spotlight on one process or policy that puts a drag on “CARE.”
By the way, thank you Rosie!
With CARE in the Triangle,
Lorne