Book Summary/ Central Concepts to Leadership
The book Treat People Right: How Organizations and Individuals can Propel Each Other into a Virtuous Spiral of Success by Edward E. Lawler III is the most recent contribution to organization literature that targets high-performance companies. In Treat People Right , Lawler articulates that corporations actualize their highest success levels when internal and external business practices are created and managed in mechanisms that are beneficial for the company and employees. The author argues that every organization must ensure to have objectives that almost mirror that of their employees because, in successful companies, the goals of the workers and firm should never be contradictory. Lawler (2003) asserts that when corporations acquire the capacity to attract, hire, motivate, reward, and retain high-performance talent, then the workers are inclined to align their performances to mirror organizations’ short and long-term goals, mission, and objectives. In return, companies that retain the pool of workers mentioned above tend to outperform their competitors in the long-run. According to Lawler (2003), the leadership style highlighted above results in a “virtuous cycle” of success, which is an essential element for developing and sustaining organizations deemed to be high performance.
The author shares seven primary principles that corporate managers must use to organize and manage employees to inspire the aforementioned virtuous spiral above. Additionally, Lawler (2003) recommends practices embodied by human capital, which corporate executives can use to engender each of the seven provided principles. The author articulates that companies that desist from adhering to the seven directives risk facing a “death spiral”, manifested in organizational incapability to recruit and retain highly skilled workers. In the long-run, companies on a “death spiral” experience fatal consequences, which are primarily advanced by their managers’ ignorance. The book’s elemental proposition is that corporations must treat people right because the practice is a competitive necessity and not an act of organizational altruism as managers tend to think. Treat People Right embodies Lawler’s usual writing style; authoritative, systematic, and clear, besides heavily drawing on his extensive consulting experience and research conducted over years. Similar to the author’s other books Treat People Right is readable and easy to conceptualize and does not have a long reference list. Although some readers may be irked by the book’s limited documentation, its high credibility, carefully explained ideas, and well-articulated conclusions indicate that Treat People Right is trustworthy.
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Book Review/Assessment of Central Concepts related to Leadership
The book Treat People Right starts with an in-depth explanation of corporation environmental transformations, which are responsible for the critical nature of human capital management. After the introduction, Lawler (2003) writes two theoretical framework chapters, which act as the foundation of the core concepts discussed in the book. Chapter one shares insights on the fundamentals of organizational effectiveness, while chapter highlights an extensive, quality review of work performance, satisfaction, and motivation. A frequent reader of Lawler’s literature would easily identify with the information provided by the Treat People Right ’s precedent chapters. Lawler (2003) then apportions a chapter for each of the seven principles highlighted in the book summary, which primarily focus on treating people right.
Lawler’s first principle of how managers can best treat people right in Treat People Right is attraction and retention. Here, the author indicates that company executives must show new hires how they will benefit from the valuable elements of the company, which outstands from that of competitors. The second principle that Lawler (2003) tackles is hiring practices, where he explains that corporations must strive to hire employees who auger well with their core values, strategic goals, and competencies. Third, the author indicates that firms should assess their training and development mechanisms, through regularly conducting coaching sessions for new and retained hires to foster their growth and development. The fourth leadership element that Lawler (2003) highlights is work design, which is evinced through the designation of employee duties, and responsibilities that are meaningful, as well as the promotion of regular feedback provision, workers’ autonomy, and responsibilities. Fifthly, corporation leaders should ensure that their strategies, missions, and objectives are specific and that workers can identify with set goals effectively. Sixthly, company executives must create an efficient reward system, which acts as reinforcements to their principal strategy, values, and designs. Finally, leaders should develop and only hire executives who can design an environment of success, trust, commitment, and a work context that promotes self-motivation in employees.
Lawler (2003) describes the seven leadership principles of treating employees in the right way in an accessible and straightforward manner, through substantiated empirical evidence and organizational examples. Therefore, the discussed elements in Treat People Right are highly beneficial tools that comprise successful companies, which actualize their set visions, missions, and objectives in the short and long-term. Lawler (2003) has also used several marketing ideals to complete the text Treat People Right , which leaders can use to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of their corporations. For instance, the author argues that for companies to attract highly qualified talent, they have to design a value proposition that competitors do not provide. The created value ideals educate potential hires on the rewards they will enjoy should they choose to be employed by certain organizations, in exchange for their skilled output. Lawler (2003) also indicates that businesses should develop an identifiable and robust brand image, which can also be used to lure workers whose goals and core values mirror those of the company they will work for. Further, the author suggests that organizations should have signature extras, which signify the exquisite benefits that employees will earn should they choose to work for a given corporation over the other. For instance, a company could highlight that it provides paid vacations, 401(k) retirement benefit plans, or paid higher education, which may differentiate it from competitors who lack similar services.
Throughout Treat People Right , Lawler (2003) recommends readings that are technologically inspired, which leaders can use to enhance their hiring and employee retention processes. For instance, the author argues that companies could create employee portals, applicant tracking systems that are web-based, internet-based training platforms, and online employee review procedures. Furthermore, the author asserts that leaders should ensure their organizations embrace humanistic human resource practices, such as job previews that are realistic, fair employee referrals, mentoring programs, and employment testing. Moreover, Lawler (2003) highlights the “death of the loyalty contract”, which occurs when corporations offer job security in a bid to maintain high-performing talent. According to the author, providing employment security is counter-productive and unrealistic, and may result in company closure if the aforementioned practice is maintained for lengthy periods. Even the author specifically highlights that he does not discourage organizations from providing job security; he would prefer that organizational leaders promote the use of short-term contract relationships with employees.
Application to Leadership
Lawler’s principles could be taught in a management school, where potential executives could learn the seven principles of treating people right as an essential foundation for successfully achieving short and long-term organizational goals. Additionally, students in high school and colleges could benefit immensely from the information in Treat People Right , which would prepare them to lead corporations towards success when they are elected in positions that mandate handling employee affairs directly. Furthermore, Treat People Right has important guidelines on career development at the end of each chapter, which I intend to use when hired as a junior or senior executive in the future.
Conclusion
The book Treat People Right highlights primary principles that leaders should embrace to steer their companies towards success in a highly competitive environment. In the book, the author indicates seven core values that organizational leaders should adhere to for them to attract, hire, retain, and motivate talent that is deemed high performance. Instances of the core foundations that business executives must leverage include retention and attraction, work design, reward systems, leadership, goals, mission, and strategies, hiring practices, and training and development. The author also provides marketing principles that companies can use to ensure they hire employees with values and objectives that mirror theirs, such as the creation of a strong brand image, value proposition, and signature rewards. Overall, Lawler’s book is insightful and contains a plethora of information wealth that organizations can use to outperform their competition. In the long run, treating people right is indeed the best mechanism to retain workers for long periods, and to foster intensive employee self-motivation, job engagement, and involvement, which is essential for high-performance work environments.
References
Edward E. Lawler, I. (2003). Treat people right!: How organizations and individuals can propel each other into a virtuous spiral of success . Jossey-Bass.
