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Helping organisations build honest, fruitful relationships.
Running a business is not always fun. It can be a lonely and exhausting experience.
Employees *
Suppliers *
Customers *
Organisation *
Community*
>> Not necessarily in that order
Could it be easier and perhaps actually enjoyable? It is hard to see what could change to make work more fulfilling and it can help to talk to someone outside the organisation with a fresh point of view. It doesn't necessarily need to be a business consultant or some sort of organisational analyst, sometimes just talking to someone who has "been there" can be enough. If that someone also has that extra knowledge and understanding to be able to contribute positively, even better.
Do you enjoy your work?
Even if you relish the thought of going to work, the same may not be true for everyone in your organisation. This can have a big impact of effectiveness. Many employees see work as just something they have to do. If this is how they feel it is unlikely that they are giving their best and that affects the bottom line.
Jack Welch 
sums the issues up well:
There are three measurements you need to understand at a business to know if you're on the right track:
- First and foremost is employee engagement. How do your employees feel about their jobs, where they're going and do they like the work? Are they proud of what they do?
- Secondly is customer satisfaction. You don't have a business without customers, but you've got to have employee engagement first.
- The third is cash flow. If you've got the first two right, you'll get the cash flow. If you don't, you won't. It's really that simple.
When you think about your business, compare it to the corner grocery store where the owner knows all of his employees really well. He knows their family and he knows how they feel. He can talk to them about the meaning of their jobs. He also knows his customers and if they're satisfied. Finally, he knows at the end of the day if he's getting more cash in than he spent out. You can expand that to companies of all sizes.
This might sound like an over simplification but it isn't far from the truth. So how do we get to this ideal and can we improve on it?
What motivates people?
Psychologist Abraham Maslow said "human motivation is based on people seeking fulfilment and change through personal growth". In in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation", he outlined what he termed our hierarchy of needs - This hierarchy has been modified, extended and refined by psychologists , business pundits , management gurus and others, who have found it a useful guide to "fulfilment" or indeed a lack of fulfilment.
These hierarchies along with Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y inform much of current organisational thinking.
How are your employees', customers' and your suppliers' needs being satisfied?
The science of persuasion - six principles.
It isn't about the money.
Daniel Pink's research has unearthed some surprising universals.
Behavioural economist Dan Ariely presents some eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work.
Jessica Gross dissects the above talk in TED Ideas.
How can you make changes that work?
I have broken the important areas into five parts:
- Employees (recruiting, engagement, motivation, productivity, retention)
- Suppliers (the supply chain, suppliers, product quality)
- Customers (marketing, satisfaction, feedback, retention)
- Organisation (USP (Unique Selling Point), organisational structure, product quality, security, strategy, competitors)
- Community (social impact, economics, sustainability)
If you are looking for a business consultant or organisation adviser in Dorset; Contact William now to see how you can explore and maybe improve any or all these factors.