
By: Ken Tyler, Sr. Laundry Industry Consultant
You may have heard that customers should come first. However, it’s also debatable that your employees should come first instead. They bring great value to your organization with skills and talent that can’t easily be replaced. Whether your employees are union or not, become familiar with Department of Labor Rules, both local and national. Most complaints usually center around time off, management or salary and benefits. Our industry needs to focus on this element as a priority. Unfair working conditions can destroy any organization, be careful and thoughtful.
Sir Richard Branson said:
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees,
they will take care of your clients”
In other words, employees are essential and should be your first priority, not your customers.
So How Should We Treat Our Employees?
It’s common knowledge to treat people the way you want to be treated.
The same concept applies in the workplace. Employers should be treating employees with the respect they deserve. In any situation, it’s not acceptable to look down or condescend any of your team members.
Everyone is equal. It doesn’t matter if you have a higher salary, title or position than your co-workers.
You’ll quickly lose the respect and loyalty of your employees if they’re not happy. When they leave your company with a bad experience, it also affects your brand image and reputation. But at the same time, you shouldn’t be too friendly. Being too nice may potentially risk employees from taking you seriously and completing their tasks to a high standard.
Recruiting strategies are helpful for acquiring the top talent. However, retaining them and maintaining a good level of engagement is just as important.
Why Should Employers Treat Employees With Honesty and Respect?
Your employees are the ones who can take care of your customers for you.
They’re being hired for a purpose and that’s because of the skills, expertise, and value that they can bring to your organization. Chances are, they’re more skilled and talented than you in a specific field, e.g. sales or marketing.
Since that’s the case, they should be a priority.
To ensure they stay for the long-term, you need to treat them well in your work environment and throughout the initial recruitment process.
If they care about doing their job to the best standard, your business will ultimately take care of itself. However, if they hate their job for whatever reason, it’s going to have a negative impact on your company’s success.
That’s one of the reasons why it’s vital to treat your employees with honesty and respect.
Besides that, everyone should be treated equally without any disrespect. We all want to feel valued, fulfilled, and have a sense of belonging in and outside of our careers.
What Makes a Good Team Leader?
A good team leader will have strong self-awareness and is capable of bringing the team together as well as boosting morale. They’ll have strong social skills and can read between the lines, which is crucial.
It’s also important to understand the projects you’re working on and the strengths of each employee. This improves your approach. Here are some good leadership qualities:
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- Take accountability
- Decisive
- Humility
- Good listeners
- Public speaking
- Self-confidence
- Selflessness
- Passionate
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A bad leader will have inept communication skills and is slow at reading the situation. They would also be ignorant of what’s happening behind the scenes with their team, e.g. arising conflict between two employees.
As a manager, identifying and assessing the most skilled candidates isn’t the only important task. Besides improving the talent acquisition process, you need to cultivate a motivated and productive work environment for the best results.
How Do You Treat Employees With Respect and Dignity?
If you’d like to yield greater results and ROI, it’s important that you treat employees with respect and dignity. They won’t do the work to the best of their ability if they dislike where they work, which stops you from getting the best possible outcome.
In order to reach the company’s full potential and ensure the best business growth, the efforts of your team will be a decisive factor.
In Part 2 we’ll review specific actions you can take to make your employees feel respected. We’ll also explore the importance of your team’s mental health and what you, as their employer can do to support them in that area. View Part 2 here.
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About the Author: Ken Tyler has been active in laundry and textile programs for over 53 years. Between his position as Chief of the VA Laundry program and the Chief of Laundry Operations at the DOD he managed the modernization, and construction of over 100 healthcare laundry operations valued in excess of 200 million dollars. Tyler received numerous commendations including the GSA Excellence award, Department of Energy awards for energy conservation and the Presidential Award for Performance. During his time with VA, he was selected in the VA Leadership program and continues as a member of that Alumni program.
Tyler managed US Marine Corps and Department of the Navy laundry programs for 10 years, Department of Veterans Affairs textile care and laundry programs for 27 years and managed government programs for Encompass LLC for 16 years. He retired from the US Marine Corps after 30 years of service and received over 30 decorations for his military service.Tyler consults laundry manufacturers and textile/chemical groups. He is also the recipient of numerous industry and government awards and has served numerous organizations such as AHA, TRSA, JCAHO, ALM and ARTA.