Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients. – Richard Branson
It’s hard to argue with such sentiment, especially when most who read this are employees. But what does “take care of” mean exactly? For most it’s seen as a warm and fuzzy sentiment. To most it means ensuring that people’s Maslow level needs are met, listening to them, being kind, etc. But Branson didn’t say people, he said employees and he also speaks ultimately of taking care of the client. So let’s be clear, this is a work thing, not a people thing and that’s OK, really.
We are all workers to varying degrees and as I’ve said numerous times, people don’t go to work to be entertained, make friends or even to learn. They go to work to work. Taking care of employees is not the same as taking care of them as people, it’s taking care of them as workers. So forget the gamification, the pizza parties and all the formal learning opportunities. Rather, focus on making the work people do better and easier. Start by helping them know that every task taken is purposeful to business success. Give them the best tools to do their jobs. Encourage them to find the right people to collaborate with, and make it easy for them to do so. And give them the access they need to the content and resources that improve the work they do. This is how you take care of employees. And since it is ultimately about the client – confident, competent, and passionate employee makes for a happy client.
