Looking to turn a profit this quarter? Hoping to up those revenues in the fiscal year ahead? Then we’ve got a hot tip for you. Throw out the balance sheet.
Do we have your attention yet? Good. Because we’re not actually asking you to forget about your cash flow. You’re running a business, after all.
What we are asking you to do is shuffle your priorities a bit. Because if you want your company to survive and thrive when the competition for talent is more intense than it has ever been, and when the Great Resignation seems only to be draining an already dwindling talent pool, the old transactional model of employee management simply isn’t going to cut it.
Basically, if you’re relying on “reasonable” compensation and a standard benefits package to earn your employees’ loyalty and to galvanize their performance, then you may well be in for a rude awakening.
Maximizing Profits By Prioritizing your People
The reality is that “reasonable” compensation and “fair market value” are decidedly and increasingly ambiguous terms, particularly for an ever more mobile labor force. Now, more than ever, if you’re looking to grow your company, you’re going to need to shift your focus away from the balance sheet and toward your employees.
Today’s workers are looking for far more than a steady paycheck, health and retirement insurance, and a couple of weeks of vacation a year. That’s a given for most workers. Now they’re also needing something more: They want a relationship with the people they spend their work hours with and the company to whom they choose to devote their time, skills, and effort.
Above all, they want to feel cared for by their employer. They don’t want to be another anonymous cog in the machine. They want to align with an organization that doesn’t just care about what the employee can do for the company, but that also cares about the employee’s wellbeing beyond the workplace, their mental and physical health, their overall quality of life.
So, if you’re looking to attract the best talent, to keep them for longer than it takes the ink to dry on the contract, and to elicit optimal performance from these coveted workers, then you’ll need to make some minimal investments in time and resources to gain the trust and loyalty that will yield long-term returns.
For instance, when was the last time you got your team together so they could safely express what has been going on for them personally and professionally? When was the last time you did something challenging and fun together outside of work, or celebrated accomplishments? These are simple moves with a small investment, yet they yield big returns when bringing people together in a way that supports authentic connection.
Sometimes it is best to support your people with an outside facilitator, or for you as the manager or leader to get training on how to best lead these types of gatherings, so once the process begins it becomes much easier for team members to open up to each other and create healthier work environments. In fact, if you want to keep your employees, let alone attract new ones, studies show that you had best be prepared to create a safe work environment, regardless of how productive and profitable the former business model might have been.
The key to all this, though, is the reality that what employees are looking for is not so much the perks as the value the workplace culture represents. When you demonstrate to your staff your willingness to take their interests to heart, to accommodate their needs whenever and wherever possible in order to retain their talents, then they’re going to feel valued. And when your staff feels that they are even more important than profit, then you’re going to have a workforce that is more motivated, more loyal, and higher performing than ever. It’s a short-term investment in people that will pay off immensely in profitability later on.
At Casa Alternavida, we are committed to the principle that “heart-based relationships create deeper collaboration.” What this means, in practice, is the people-first approach. The alignment of people, passion, and purpose inevitably links to a more profitable bottom line. That is why we are proud to offer an array of opportunities for putting the “people-first” ethos into action at your organization. This includes corporate retreat options to facilitate team building and cohesion and the cultivation of a positive, nurturing business environment. Alternatively, we offer options for individual and small groups, which, when gifted to your employees, can be an ideal opportunity to model and promote self-care for your invaluable employees!
Casa Alternavida was founded on the principle that there are healthier, “alternative” ways to balance life and work. This alternative is to stop the unconscious addiction to stress, overwhelm, and struggle to focus on a healthy, balanced lifestyle that yields better results. Our practitioners are trained to support you with unraveling those unconscious commitments so you can actively create the lifestyle you want to be living, take charge of your well-being, and reset bad habits. We are experts at creating playful experiences in nature that inspire deep personal insight and long-term positive behavior change. Teams walk away from our facility with new excitement for their projects, practices to work smarter, and a deep appreciation of their companies. If you are a business that cares about your employees and wants to enhance your workplace culture, we are dedicated to providing alternative ways of building resilient leaders and teams.