July 5, 2006

Do You Use The NEW Golden Rule?

Here’s Part 2 of the true story I began last week.

(If you haven’t read Part 1, head on over to Were These Employees Really Lazy and Incompetent? …then read below.)

You’ll recall that the new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a small technology company discovered that the employees he thought were “incompetent and lazy”… were suddenly professional and conscientious… once they had the tools to do their jobs.

In fact, as the CTO observed his employees in action, and spent some quality one-on-one time with each of them - taking them out for a coffee or lunch - he began to understand them better:

• What motivated them;
• What they were good at;
• What they weren’t good at;
• What work they enjoyed doing;
• What they didn’t like doing;
• What gave them a sense of satisfaction;
• What made them feel valued; and
• Other such work-related details.

And then the CTO did something that so few managers and organizations seem to do.

He acted on this information.

He began to structure the work his employees did, the information he gave them, and a myriad of other “little” things… based on their likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, what excited and motivated them, what drove them nuts, and so on.

And then, based on the results, it was beyond doubt: the CTO’s staff weren’t lazy or incompetent at all. They were bright, talented programmers who not only turned in excellent work but LOVED coming to work each day.

If you’ve read my book, How To Manage People (Even If You’re A Control Freak! you’ll know that the CTO applied the “new” golden rule.

The “old” golden rule is to treat others how you would like to be treated yourself. Now that’s admirable, but when it comes to employee management it’s the LAST thing you should do if you really want to get the best and most out of your people.

Forget the old golden rule; apply the new golden rule: treat people how THEY would like to be treated.

Or, as I put in my book: treat people as INDIVIDUALS.

Indeed, the CTO himself told me one day:

“You know, Anna, if there’s one thing that’s really turned these guys around, it’s treating them as individuals.”

So, if you do one thing to improve how YOU manage employees please do this: get to know EACH of your employees as an individual human being and manage them as such.

Not sure how to do this? Or worried that you’re limited by your company as to what you can and can’t do for your staff?

Relax.

I explain what to do in detail in my system for managing employees - the How To Manage People System. I even give you a tool you can use to keep a profile of each of your employees. And of course the System includes the book, How To Manage People (Even If You’re A Control Freak!).

Next week, I’ll finish off the story of our CTO with some examples of the “little” things he did - things YOU can do - to improve the morale, motivation, and most importantly the RESULTS, of his team.