It’s A Matter of Focus

Written By: Grady Brown

Last May marked the conclusion of my 28th year as a Human Resource management professional. My experience has been that the pace of business life is most often fast, competitive, and demanding. The competing priorities of increasing revenue, delivering operational excellence, focusing on the customer, and guiding human capital can leave business leaders overwhelmed and defensively responding to daily demands. The pace of business life is relentless and requires the exercise of patience, a commitment to courage, and an eye toward strategy to be successful.

Years ago, a co-worker tentatively stepped into my office, asking for a minute to discuss a concern. She detailed the facts of a recent employee resignation in her group and pled for resources to provide more “nice things for employees.” That experience prompted me to create a list with two columns and headed by the titles: Nice Things to Offer Employees, and the other, Essential Things to Offer Employees. After some contemplation, my lists included the following.

Nice Things To Offer Employees:

FREE SNACKS
T-SHIRTS AND COFFEE MUGS
CASUAL FRIDAY DRESS CODE
FUN COMPANY EVENTS
FOOSBALL, PING PONG, ETC.

Essential Things To Offer Employees:

Appropriate Pay For Their Work
Competitive Benefits
Genuine Appreciation
Respect For Their Time And Talents
Boundaries Around Their Personal Life
Visibility Into The Organization’s Plans
Ethical And Competent Leadership
Tools And Equipment To Do Their Jobs

Over the years, I’ve tried to remember these lists and to use them as a filter when confronting requests for additional employee benefits. Making sure that employees have those items that are essential is a very high priority at Med One. Along the way, we’ve also added many “nice things” that employees appreciate. We must never be distracted by the glitter of nice things at the expense of being a quality employer and providing that which is essential.