In the video titled, Why we need to treat our employees as thoughtfully as our customers , Diana Dosik discusses the importance of investing more time and resources in understanding employees. Dosik begins her presentation by comparing the amounts that companies spend in understanding their customers and the amounts they dedicate to their employees. She reaches the conclusion that companies spend significant amounts in understanding what makes buying difficult or easy. However, it is not the same when dealing with employees.
According to Dosik, companies fail to invest in understanding employees and when they do so the efforts miss the mark. They do not utilize the same syndicated tools and strategies that are used in understanding employees. This leads companies to seek the help of experts such as her to help them overcome challenges in understanding employee needs. Dosik uses the example of apple to highlight how companies can utilize the same efforts in customer management to understand employees. Apple introduced instant checkouts and demo tables to make buying easier, and this has contributed to making the company one of the most successful in the world. Thus, getting to know employees’ touch points or the things that matter to them is necessary if companies are to reap the best from them. A company can either get the employees’ touch points or eliminate the pain points. This equates to aligning the company’s objectives with employees’ ones. If these objectives are not aligned, the mismatch is not optimal. She emphasizes this point by using the example of Google, which extended maternity leave for its employees. Such a strategy enables a company to align the interests of its employees with those of the company. She concludes her talk by wondering why companies dedicate significant efforts in underdoing customers and less so for employees and yet they have more touch points with them than customers.
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Dosik’s presentation offers important lessons that can be applied in real life situations. Considering that employees are a company’s most critical asset, it is paradox why most of them do not take time to understand their employees. As noted in the video, the failure to align company interest with employee interest creates a mismatch that is not beneficial to a company. I believe that alignment of interest plays a role in the retention and engagement of employees. When employees understand that their interests are well served by contributing towards the company’s interest, they are likely to be more motivated and engaged.
Thus, I will utilize these lessons in my daily life by incorporating the interest of all stakeholders in any venture or project. One strategy that comes to mind when it comes aligning interests is increasing ownership in planning. When stakeholders or employees are involved in the initial stages such as planning, it is possible to incorporate or align their interests with those of the company. Another useful strategy is the need to balance power, which is necessary during decision making. Concentrating power around executives alienates employees and their interests are more likely to be ignored if they lack power. Finally, introducing group wide rewards is another strategy. As noted in the video, Google introduced extended maternity leave, which is an example of a group wide reward that appeals to most employees. After watching the video, I now understand more about the importance of aligning employee interests with company ones.
Reference
Dosik, D. (2015). Why we need to treat our employees as thoughtfully as our customers . Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/diana_dosik_why_we_need_to_treat_our_employees_as_thou ghtfully_as_our_customers on Dec 10, 2019.
