Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  We believe some are critical (and necessary) steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process.  Others are just ideas to be considered if they feel like a good fit based on what leaders prayerfully discern is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.

Because “Prioritize Employees” is at the heart of creating a culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing, we believe it is essential to leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.

Integrity Ideas are specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity^®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  You can find more Integrity Ideas at Integrous | Integrity Ideas (integriosity.com)

INTEGRITY IDEA: Prioritize Employees

“Prioritize Employees” is about recognizing the importance of caring for employees for the right reasons.   It is grounded in Imago Dei, the Golden Rule and the commandment to love your neighbor, both in its application and its results.

Caring for Employees

Like some of our recent posts, this Integrity Idea was inspired by a news article.  On September 2, 2014, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Young People Are Taking Over the Workplace, and That’s a Problem for Bosses“.  In particular, inspiration came from the following lines and, most particularly, from the emphasized text:

Christine Heckart, chief executive of Xapa, a professional development app for GenZ, told the audience that younger generations want meaning, mentorship and a sense of purpose. The message didn’t go over well with everyone in the room. One board member in attendance asked why any of those things should be the company’s responsibility. Heckart, who says she has been heckled in the past on the subject, still makes the case that companies will benefit from helping to fulfill the needs of younger workers because then they will be better employees. “They want security and this chance to matter,” said Heckart, who advises companies. “When they’re not heard, when they don’t have an opportunity to grow, when they’re not appreciated, then they check out pretty quickly.”

Inspiration also came from two online quotes from Richard Branson:

There is no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.

Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients.

Richard Branson gets it, but the unnamed Board member in the WSJ article didn’t get it.  We suspect that Board member would have never asked why meeting the needs of customers “should be the company’s responsibility”.  

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis observed:

The Golden Rule of the New Testament (Do as you would be done by) is a summing up of what every one, at bottom, had always known to be right.

But what the WSJ article illuminates is that the Golden Rule alone is insufficient to support an organizational culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing, particularly where leaders and managers may be from a different generation than the people for whom they “care”.  Caring for someone as you would wish to be cared for may not be caring for them.  That revelation is at the center of Gary Chapman’s “five love languages”.  Real love requires understanding what the other person needs.

“Prioritizing Employees” also needs Imago Dei and the commandment to love your neighbor.  Perhaps it is all wrapped up in the title of a 2010 book by Louis Upkins titled Treat Me Like a Customer: Using Lessons from Work to Succeed in Life.  Upkins argued that a person can be a better spouse and parent by treating their family members like prized customers.  We think it’s a useful reminder for faithful leaders in the stewardship of employees.

A good salesperson would certainly treat a prized customer with dignity and respect (Imago Dei).  They would also think about how they would like to be treated (the Golden Rule) and consider the particular likes and dislikes of the customer (love your neighbor).  The salesperson wouldn’t book a dinner at their favorite sushi restaurant (Golden Rule might) if the client hated sushi (love your neighbor), and the salesperson wouldn’t show up 30 minutes late (Imago Dei).

If Upkins’s strategy works for spouses and children, it will certainly work for employees.

Making Employees a Priority (with the Right WHY)

If done for the right reasons, “Prioritize Employees” Humanizes People by helping them live in alignment with God’s design and commands. It is good stewardship of the organization because cared for employees care for each other and for customers.

Employees who experience being the recipient of “Golden Rule” and “love your neighbor” behavior will be better equipped to deliver “Golden Rule” and “love your neighbor” behavior, both to customers and co-workers.  Employees treated with dignity and respect as creations in the image of God will be better equipped to live out Imago Dei in their treatment of customers and fellow employees.

Employees who feel engaged with their work want to do it well and will have a positive attitude about their work, which benefits customers as well as the work atmosphere for other employees.

Too often, organizational cultures are built on the principle of prioritizing customers at the expense of employee engagement and happiness, which, in addition to being de-humanizing for employees, can negatively impact the customer experience as well as the work atmosphere.

As we have explained many times, in an organizational culture of business as usual premised on Profit as Purpose and the assumptions of Scarcity and Self-Interest, employees are not a priority.  They are, by definition, tools of production to be manipulated and managed toward the end of maximizing profit.  We know from Matthew 6:24 that “no one can serve two masters“.

If practices are put in place to make employees feel “cared for” in a Profit as Purpose culture, it is because, at some level, a calculation was made that those practices are good for the bottom line (or at least will not hurt the bottom line), and being “loved” with an ulterior motive of Profit as Purpose is not being treated in accordance with the Golden Rule, being loved in accordance with the second great commandment, or being treated with dignity and respect in recognition of Imago Dei.

Even faithful leaders must examine their hearts when it comes to “Prioritize Employees” to ensure that are doing it for the right reasons. As we pointed out in post #159 (Caring for People—Heart, Hype or Hustle), caring for people can have various motivations, only one of which–Heart–reflects faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.

In exploring the Richard Branson quotes, we stumbled upon a Fast Company article that contained a goldmine of quotes from various business leaders and management gurus on how prioritizing employees is the best way to serve customers.  Here are a few:

Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first! (Simon Sinek)

The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers. (Sybil Stershic)

The way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers. (Richard Branson)

To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace. (Doug Conant)

Brands are built from the inside out. The way a company behaves from the inside is going to find its way to the outside. (Ginger Hardage)

“Prioritize Employees” is at the heart of many of our Integrity Ideas and should be a priority for faithful leaders seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  It reinforces a culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.

CONTINUUM: Practices

The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums.  There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture.  The Continuums are Prayer, Proclamation, Policies, Practices, Products, People.

Each Continuum represents an area in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.

“Prioritize Employees” is on the Practices Continuum.  It involves practices the organization can adopt to affirm its commitment to Biblical flourishing and the Biblical principles of Imago Dei, the Golden Rule and love your neighbor, to reflect and reinforce a culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing, and the bigger WHY of Humanizing People.

COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Covert

The Integriosity model breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations–from Highly Covert to Highly Overt–that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.

Most Integrity Ideas will have one place on the scale.  Some can vary depending on how they are implemented.   “Prioritize Employees” is Highly Covert (an action that would be taken by a secular company) in concept, but particular ways in which employees are prioritized may be Overt, particularly if the faithful leader chooses to explain the practice in terms of the organization’s WHY and Biblical beliefs, principles or priorities.

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers

When we categorize faith-based actions, we also consider the stakeholders principally impacted by the action: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community and Kingdom.

“Prioritize Employees” principally serves Employees by treating them (and equipping them how to treat each other) in accordance with Imago Dei, the Golden Rule, and the commandment to love your neighbor.  It also serves Customers by equipping Employees to treat them in the same way.

IMPLEMENTATION

“Prioritize Employees” is less a specific practice as it an Integrity Idea that underlies many other Integrity Ideas.  Implementing “Prioritize Employees” requires faithful leaders to prayerfully discern ways that they can cultivate an organizational culture that lives out the Golden Rule, the commandment to love your neighbor and Imago Dei in the way it cares for its employees.

“Prioritize Employees” must be implemented with the flourishing of employees as its purpose because they are a part of creation placed under the stewardship of those faithful leaders.  It is about Humanizing People.  If it is done as just a way to care for customers, then it is not prioritizing employees–it is de-humanizing them.  WHY matters.

While all Integrity Ideas are about cultivating an organizational culture that aligns with Biblical beliefs principles and priorities, which is good for employees, here are a few that are suggestions ways to more directly care for employees in the spirit of “Prioritize Employees”:

Integrous | #127 – Integrity Idea 001: Hire a Chaplain (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #129 – Integrity Idea 003: Pay Today (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #130 – Integrity Idea 004: Promote an ERG (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #131 – Integrity Idea 005: Fund an Employee Fund (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #132 – Integrity Idea 006: Provide Humanity Resources (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #140 – Integrity Idea 011: Celebrate Impact (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #147 – Integrity Idea 015: Remember the Fourth (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #148 – Integrity Idea 016: Pick the Right “Peter Principle” (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #149 – Integrity Idea 017: Listen to a Life (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #162 – Integrity Idea 020: Buy Tickets (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #163 – Integrity Idea 021: Cancel Cursing (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #166 – Integrity Idea 022: Adopt Adoption (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #170 – Integrity Idea 023: Segregate Sacred Space (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #174 – Integrity Idea 024: Optimize Compensation (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #175 – Integrity Idea 025: Reward Rest (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #183 – Integrity Idea 028: Embrace “Biblical ESG” (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #185 – Integrity Idea 030: Encourage “Biblical EQ” (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #186 – Integrity Idea 031: Catalyze “Kindness” (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #191 – Integrity Idea 032: Adopt a “77” Policy (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #195 – Integrity Idea 034: Fortify Family (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #198 – Integrity Idea 035: Tear Down Those Walls (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #203 – Integrity Idea 036: Thank Your Temps (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #211 – Integrity Idea 041: Don’t “Toolify” Humans (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #212 – Integrity Idea 042: Give “Horizontal” Thanks (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #214 – Integrity Idea 044: Re-Imagine the Box (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #215 – Integrity Idea 045: Terminate with Gold (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #220 – Integrity Idea 049: Close the Gaps (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #228 – Integrity Idea 052: Do a Devo (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #232 – Integrity Idea 055: Nurture Nutrition (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #232 – Integrity Idea 055: Nurture Nutrition (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #234 – Integrity Idea 057: Waken Wellness (integriosity.com)

Integrous | #236 – Integrity Idea 058: Foster Financial Fitness (integriosity.com)

“Prioritize Employees” is at the heart of many of our Integrity Ideas and should be a priority for faithful leaders seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  It reinforces a culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  In writing this post, I immediately thought of Louis Upkins.  I met Louis in 2010 when he came to speak to NCS New Canaan, the founding chapter of the New Canaan Society, about his new book Treat Me Like a Customer: Using Lessons from Work to Succeed in Life.  Upkins shared his secrets to success as a father, husband and businessperson, challenging readers to take their roles as a spouse or parent to a deeper, more fulfilling level by treating their loved ones like their prized customers.

ESSENCE:  Integrity Ideas are specific practical actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.

INTEGRITY IDEA: Prioritize Employees

COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  Practices

COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees

“Prioritize Employees” is about recognizing the importance of caring for employees for the right reasons.   It is grounded in Imago Dei, the Golden Rule and the commandment to love your neighbor, both in its application and its results.  It Humanizes People by helping them live in alignment with God’s design and commands.  Employees who experience being the recipient of “Golden Rule” and “love your neighbor” behavior will be better equipped to deliver “Golden Rule” and “love your neighbor” behavior, both to customers and co-workers.  Employees treated with dignity and respect as creations in the image of God will be better equipped to live out Imago Dei in their treatment of customers and fellow employees. Employees who feel engaged with their work want to do it well and will have a positive attitude about their work, which benefits customers as well as the work atmosphere for other employees.  Too often, organizational cultures are built on the principle of prioritizing customers at the expense of employee engagement and happiness, which, in addition to being de-humanizing for employees, can negatively impact the customer experience as well as the work atmosphere.  “Prioritize Employees” is at the heart of many of our Integrity Ideas and should be a priority for faithful leaders seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  It reinforces a culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.

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