Is Being Profitable The Only Goal A Company Should Have?

So, let me ask you a question..  Which of the following practices do you think would ultimately make employees feel more valued, and subsequently more loyal to a company:  A) Involving them in the decision-making process; seeking their input and ideas when it comes to the best way to complete a project or perhaps improve a process; or B) Making decisions that employees are actual stakeholders of, without considering/seeking their input?  I’m gonna go with A.  I mean who wouldn’t want their own point of view considered (or at the very least, heard), especially in a decision that’s ultimately going to affect them in some way?

Sure, delegating tasks to employees or making decisions without asking for their input certainly takes a lot less resources than collaborating.   But here’s the thing - does financial success equate to overall success as an organization?  Companies can report strong net incomes quarter after quarter; year after year, yet still have high turnover rates and employees that are unhappy with many of the qualitative aspects of the organizations that are employing them.  In other words - is being efficient and striving for business success all there is to it?  After all, turnover can be a pretty significant company liability.  Bringing in new hires; training; loss of productivity while a position is unfilled...these are costs too.   

Now, it goes without saying that a business can’t exist unless it's actually profitable.  So I'm not at all suggesting that companies should become hallmark cards or completely disregard their purpose and business goals.  What I am saying is, should profitability be the only goal companies endeavor to reach?  For many people I'm guessing that the answer is probably, yes.  But, I think saying yes underestimates an organization's ability to multi-task.



I recently read an article where the author's perspective of this relationship was that more often than not, managers are treated (or expect to be treated..) as customers and employees are treated as servants; expected to be at their manager’s beckon call.  He suggested that instead of cultivating a customer-servant relationship, managers should be establishing relationships that are based on mutual benefit, mutual responsibility and accountability, and mutual support.  All of this may sound too much like a hallmark card than what managers actually have time for, but I happen to completely agree with the author’s point.

Many if not most organizations still heavily rely on chain of command communication and processes. And that’s pretty understandable right?  I mean after all..a chain of command is necessary for efficient decision making among other things.  I think most of us would agree that being able to operate efficiently is highly important for business success, especially in today’s stringent economic conditions. Those at the top count on their manager’s ability to maximize employee productivity and produce results that help strengthen the organization’s bottom line.

Managers, I realize that you have a tremendous amount of responsibility and expectation on your shoulders from those above you.  You’re expected to put out fires, manage projects, make sure people are getting to work on time, implement new standard procedures and processes, do employee reviews, resolve conflicts, ensure employees are properly trained, provide progress reports to your bosses, execute the overall mission of your organization on a day-to-day basis, align employees with organizational goals, and a million other things.

Now, that was a pretty exhausting list and I didn’t even mention all of the duties managers have to contend with, but in addition to the tremendous amount of responsibility...managers also have a great deal of power.  

Managers, think of this.  You have the extraordinary opportunity to develop an individual, both professionally and personally.  You have the extraordinary opportunity to empower an individual; to turn them into a leader.  After all, it takes leadership to develop leadership.  The communication that takes place within the manager-employee relationship should be just as much about connectivity, empowerment, and employee development...as it is about productivity.

The manager-employee relationship has the potential to be so much more than task communication or performance evaluations.  Each relationship individually, has the ability to impact an organization, collectively.  You want to minimize turnover and ensure that employees realize they are valued and seen as assets to your organizations, I say - many of the solutions can be found within the manager-employee relationship.  

The ambitions, needs, goals, and desires of employees have to matter.  Managers should absolutely have high expectations of their employees, but employees should also be allowed to have high expectations of their managers.