Most people I talk with from many different companies tell me that employees are their most important resource. It’s simple: without them, there would be no business.
Similarly, almost all companies know exactly how their business is doing, their revenue and profit, their number of clients, and the upcoming projects they have, and those that are already underway; and so on. Usually, this information is available with a click of a button from a business application.
By contrast, many organizations find it hard to say how they lead their teams. Specifically, they do not have a clear idea of how often regular discussions are held, and on what topics, what actions have been taken to develop the employee experience, or how satisfied their employees are with the management and their work.
As is common knowledge – or should be –, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. It would be impossible for companies to make business-related forecasts if they had as little data as they have about their employees.
Now, some might think you cannot lead people with numbers – and that’s true, of course. For example, strictly speaking, leaders don’t lead sales – they lead the people who work in sales. Nonetheless, data helps us understand and analyze our teams and individuals. And usually, we have substantially more data about our sales and marketing than about employees. This situation has its roots in history. When the leadership of individuals is given a higher priority, organizations will also have more data to develop their management practices.
Think about it: What if we had the same amount of data about our employees and about leading them as we have about our business? It would help us forecast more effectively, and be more proactive in creating the best possible employee experience.
My prediction is that things are heading in this direction. The competition to attract the best talent is forcing companies to adopt a model where leadership is a service. And this service becomes a company’s competitive advantage.
At Humbol, we want to do for leadership what CRM applications have done for sales, marketing, and customer service. If you are interested in this, schedule a meeting today.