Relationships affect everyone in business and every aspect of the operation.
We have relationships with customers. We want them to keep coming back to us, to tell their friends about us for the correct reasons, to be advocates of our business,
We have relationships with suppliers. We want them to want to help us through cost effective pricing, high quality parts or services, timely deliveries and collaborative new product introduction.
We have relationships with funders. Bankers and investors need confidence that their money isn’t lost through the poor behaviour of people in the business. They need to know that the business is efficient and effective. We all know how funders react when it is shown a company is overstating its profits; the investors run away.
We have relationships with broader society. This may be the local community, local schools and colleges, local government, churches, neighbours, sports teams… We don’t live and work in isolation and all of these groups can make life more difficult for us if the trust doesn’t exist.
We have relationships with employees and their families. Teamwork and co-operation will not flourish if the organisation is political and insular. We are business partners of Wiley Publishing, whom have created with Patrick Lencioni, a model called the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team base on Patrick’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I think it is great the initial negative title has been turned into a positive one. The fundamental aspect of this thesis is the foundation of teamwork is trust. And this is a deep-seated emotional trust, something which unethical behaviour will trash.
The organisation needs;
- A moral compass. A set of values and direction which is understood by everyone and is role modelled by senior management
- A purpose and meaning. Why does the business exist, what is it trying to achieve and how will it go about doing it?
- A sense of mutual ownership. Only occasionally will this be literally true but if, irrespective of the group people belong to in the myriad of relationships, they feel affiliated progress will be faster and more embedded.
These fine words need to be more that that; they must be lived and respected by everyone, especially the most senior people.
How wealth is made and used will be influential for the way people’s thinking develops. Is it re-invested, hoarded for a rainy day, used to reward senior people, pay dividends to shareholders, reduce prices or, maybe, used for philanthropic benefits? Given customers and high level talent are becoming more discerning, how we behave is being viewed critically. ?
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