Why the Employee, Not the Customer, Is Always Right

What’s the Latest?

The post-recession workforce is threadbare. Increased competition as well as additional professional expectations have created a wide net of disinterested employees throughout the United States. “The rise of digital technology is perhaps the biggest influence, exposing us to an unprecedented flood of information and requests that we feel compelled to read and respond to at all hours of the day and night.” Today, only 30 percent of American employees feel engaged at work; most senior leaders have experienced burnout on the job. Without forthright effort on the part of employers, the workplace is likely to steadily get worse.

What’s the Big Idea?

The business consulting firm The Energy Project has isolated four core needs that, if met, supply employees with a sense of satisfaction and motivate them to approach their work with more vigor: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. “A truly human-centered organization puts its people first — even above customers — because it recognizes that they are the key to creating long-term value.” Costo, for example, which pays its average employee nearly $21 per hour, has seen a 200 percent increase in stock value compared to the 50 percent rise of its main competitor, Sam’s Club.