mabinda.com Business, Education, Technology Commentary.

Every business proclaims that our employees are our greatest asset. But do they live up to its billing? Are employees really treated well by companies, the same companies that say customer is king and hold a candle to them. The famed industrialist Henry Ford wanted to make a car that every employee could afford, not every customer. Think of how remarkable that is. He wanted employees to take pride in what they were doing and so if they would be able to afford a car that they made, then they could give their all to the company, and the company would in turn treat them well. When a company says our customers are the king, they go the whole extent to ensure that the customer is treated right so they buy products from the company. For a company such as Apple, that means that the customer service shops are like temples, a spirituality that perhaps Steve Jobs adopted from his days in India after having dropped out of college to find out himself.

The iphones are made with a human centered design that ensures that it just magically connects with the customer. That’s how iphones sell with so much profit margins that now regulators have jumped in that Apple is abusing its market dominance by having so much profit margin on its phones yet selling tens of millions of phones. In the same way, we treat customers as king, let’s treat the employees as kingmakers. They bake the cake that powers the whole company. If there were no employees, and talented ones at that, the product would not even exist. It’s why we should be forever mindful of their welfare. After all, a cow that’s well fed is the one that gives lots of milk. As the need for profitability increases, the employee is squeezed even further to perform ever more tasks in a shorter time. What if for instance a company had a salary rate that’s above the industry rates, wouldn’t that attract the best and brightest talent to work for the company? What if there was a clear policy of upward progression and promotion based on talent and skills? What if there were employee share ownership schemes?

In it’s heydey, Microsoft implemented an employee share ownership scheme and it generated 12,000 dollar millionaires in the process. It is said if Bill Gates had not implemented the employee share ownership scheme, he would have been the world’s first trillionaire. If we treat employees as kingmakers that they are, they would give back to the company in many great ways. Of course, some employers believe that employees steal employers time and even if you treated them well, they simply would not measure up. Sure employment rules have changed today, and there are no longer lifetime employees as the employer employee relationship has changed to one of client service provider relationship. It is reported that 80 percent of employees hate their jobs but what if we made it possible for them to transition from a job to a career? Wouldn’t that massively transform the company and make them give their best, and the shareholders will be the ones to reap the benefits.