December
2007
The competition for quality employees among leading companies is fierce, regardless of industry or sector. Job seekers aren’t looking strictly at salary offers; nor are they putting much stock into added perks such as company fitness center programs or on-site daycare services. According to new Gallup research, what they want most -- along with competitive pay, of course -- is quality management.
In their efforts to cut costs, companies in gasoline retailing -- and plenty of other industries -- are minimizing human interaction. But in doing so, they're undermining a major competitive advantage: the personal touch. Does this self-service approach risk turning their brands into commodities?
Gerald Wagner has spent his career trying to understand decision making and decision makers. He has come to the conclusion that most businesspeople, in fact most people, don’t understand the rules of cause and effect as they apply to decision making. But he thinks he knows how to fix that problem.
Conventional management wisdom holds that engaged employees create engaged customers who foster organizational success by delivering positive financial outcomes. Though this theory has some validity, the reality is more complex, according to the authors of Human Sigma.
Leading psychologists think that it’s time to change the way the world thinks about how to create happy, fulfilling, prosperous lives. That’s because well-being does more than make people feel good; it promotes the kind of tangible benefits that can make for stronger, more stable workplaces and societies.
The need to feel a connection to a larger cause is very important to most employees. In fact, believing that "the mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important" is a primary motivator, according to the authors of 12: The Elements of Great Managing.