The People Difference

People are the difference for your organization. If you take the people out of the picture what is left of any organization?

I have had conversations with many people over the years about the people difference factor. Some people will argue that real differentiators are about technology or unique business models or a variety of other things that are often thought of as differentiators. The problem is any and all of those things were designed, developed, implemented by people. Until organizations are able to design themselves with no human intervention the real difference is going to be driven by people.

If my view of people as the key organizational differentiator is true, then wouldn?t it make sense to spend as much time as possible finding and developing the very best people to support the success of the organization?

Many organizations say that ?people are our biggest asset? but behave in ways that don?t support that comment. If you believe that people are your biggest asset, how would the majority of your people answer the following questions:

How clear are you about your organizations mission, vision and values?

How well does everyone in your organization live the organizational values?

How clear are you about your goals and how they are measured?

How much did you participate in setting your goals?

How does the achievement of your goals fit in to the achievement of the overall organization goals?

How often are you aware of how you are performing?

When was the last time your boss said thank you?

When was the last time that your boss acknowledged great performance in the detail that made it clear to you that he/she really knew and really appreciated what you did?

Does your boss care about you as a person?

Take some time and go find out how the people in your organization really feel. In my recent interviews with senior executives in companies that won Best Places to Work recognition I learned that these executives are very clear that it is the people that make the difference for their organizations and they do everything possible to provide the opportunity for their employees to be fully engaged.

Think about it.