Work Civilization Series : Economy (part 7)

The economy of any civilization is the system whereby resources of value are exchanged. These resources can best be divided into three categories: compensation, product, and culture.

The economy of compensation is the exchange of currency or benefits you offer to your employees in exchange for work. The rates at which you compensate your employees will affect all other components of your work civilization. Turnover. Morale. Effect.

The economy of product is the exchange you make with your customers. This includes the sum of all that goes into creating your product or service, including technology and employee knowledge. When another company can duplicate your technology or you loose an employee to another company, you lose a piece of your economy.

“Trust is the most valuable economic currency in your civilization.”

The economy of culture is a form of exchange between one employee-or group of employees and another employee-or group of employees. For example, if an employee requests personal time off, a manager may put a condition on granting the request to gain something in return. A similar exchange occurs when an employee offers to help another in exchange for the promise of later help.

As a leader you must be aware of the economic system working within your civilization. Are your products and services valued by your customers, and increasing in value? Are there healthy exchanges going on between employees? Are there unhealthy exchanges within your civilization? Are there employees wasting valuable labor time, defying quality procedures, providing your customers marginal service? Does the culture tolerate their poor performance or demand the best? The more you are aware of the economies within your civilization, the better you will be able to lead your culture.

Work Civilization : Unwritten Law/Culture (part 6)

The culture of your work civilization is a combination of personality, expression, tradition, and custom unique to your group. Although in part codified in your civilization’s written laws, culture goes much deeper into the psychological fiber of your people—unwritten laws of behavior set the expectations for your culture to follow. One of the hardest things for a leader to control is the unwritten law of the civilization.

“In a reprographics environment, you have many distinct cultures: sales, production, corporate and management. Together they form your overall company culture; apart each strives to achieve their interpretation of the company vision, and yet each takes a different path based on a unique cultural perspective.“

If we examine the cultures of the Thomas civilization we find one unified vision for sales, production and management, but unique cultures, that form to achieve the vision. The vision for each is to “attain” the customer’s goal by working together as “a team” on their “projects.” When sales fulfills the vision, they gain a customer and earn a commission. When production fulfills the vision, they feel the pride of producing a quality, on-time product. When management fulfills the vision, they earn a valuable customer and achieve a financial profit. Our goal as the learning & executive team is to help you understand how each culture interrelates toward fulfilling our vision.

Work Civilization Series : Written Law (part 5)

Every civilization will naturally include written laws or procedures. Your first form of written law should be a comprehensive business plan. All the procedures in your company’s plan should be extensions of your company’s vision and mapped out in strategies from which all initiatives derive.

Job descriptions, employee handbooks, learning programs, quality control programs, safety manuals, and contracts are other forms of written law within your civilization. These define the guidelines within which you expect your employees to conduct their job duties. How you write and implement these laws can have tremendous impact on how your people interpret the vision of your company, as well as give them a feeling of how much value you place on them personally.

Work Civilization Series : Leadership (part 4)

Even well intentioned visions fail unless they have quality leadership. This means leadership throughout the organization- executive, management, production, drivers ... The only way to develop leadership at all these levels is to teach, coach and empower people consistently and with corporate passion.

“A leader is a vision with flesh.”

A leader is a living representation of the civilization vision. You must be the living example on a daily basis for your people to follow the vision. If they see you doing things that are selfish or irresponsible, then they will lose respect for you, mimic your bad behavior, or find a more respectable person to follow. Vision defines the purpose, leadership guides the civilization to fulfilling the purpose.