What Kinds of Machines Are Working at Your Company?

For three years I had a boss that sounded like a broken record and would always proclaim: “The company’s assets go out the door every night… and, back in the door every morning.” After years of hearing this reverberating in my ears, and later thinking it as a business owner, I came to a big realization: “People at work are not the widgets. They are the machine that produces the widgets.” (You know, like that BASF commercial: We’re not the people that make the carpet, we’re the people that make what goes into the carpet.”)

Employees are incredibly powerful machines, that don’t want to be seen as the widget or product. People want to be valued for their brains, their experience, their creativity and their energy that, combined, produce value and meaning for customers and clients and generate profits for the organization.

If employees rev up the organization and keep it fueled shouldn’t we treat them like we treat our machines? It might seem peculiar, but think for a moment of the care that goes into keeping a machine in the office running smoothly. We bring in IT experts to make sure they’re working effectively. We put them on three-year service contracts. We replace worn out parts. We don’t expect the black and white copier to produce color. People want the same care and attentiveness that machines get. And, heck, don’t they deserve it as the people that can help fuel growth?

If we can stop worrying about people going out the door every night, and start thinking about our people as machines that are ready, willing and able to create products, we might have some interesting new ways to drive towards higher productivity and more lasting profitability.

How can we use the machine model to enhance our firm’s growth? Think people= powerful, human machines, and explore:

Real productivity: In what ways do we, as business owners, leaders and managers keep our “machines” at their peak? Are we following contemporary trends? (example: Best Buy’s ROWE- Results Oriented Work Environment) Can we improve our service plans? (Think in-house professional development, other kinds of advanced learning.)
Utilization: Often we lease machines when full-time, long-term needs are uncertain. Is it possible to generate more profitable growth by “leasing” some of our human machines until we have a better sense of our needs? Have we considered portfolio professionals, when talents are not needed on a full time basis? Check out Baby Boomer Executives.
Environment: Machines are affected by and “connect” to their environment. If the ergonomics aren’t right, it takes more effort and energy to create the best results. If the lighting is poor, chances are good that a number of faxes won’t make it out the door. Have we examined ways positive changes in our environment could impact profitability and satisfaction?

In reviewing new ways to enhance profitability and better align growth, let’s stop thinking of any of the people in our organizations as widgets. Let’s recognize every single person on our team as part of the big machine fueling what our buyers receive from us, filled with value. In doing so, far more of the right questions--- and many more innovative solutions--- are likely to emerge. We’ll have so many service-care contracts in place, that no business owner or executive leader will need to worry when the elevator goes down at night that the assets might not return.