We are now well into the information age when it comes to technology, but the fact remains that we still have the same human behaviors as we did decades ago. Genetically, we still act pretty much human, and haven’t really evolved that much from centuries ago.
It’s found that the biggest difference between man and primate is a distinct part of the brain known as the neo cortex. In humans, this area of the brain is significantly larger. One advantage is that we’re able to mirror, copy, then learn what someone else is doing.
For instance, once you hear or witness an extremely emotional story told by someone, what we’re able to do is feel the same emotions in our mirror neurons.
What this swapping of stories does is it brings people closer together, which builds trust, making them feel as they have a common bond. This becomes important when it comes to business partners and clients.
Stories and events have the ability to connect people emotionally, as most will forget the facts over the context of the story. The reason because it’s known that most will forget or dismiss 90% percent of the information that’s presented to them within 30 minutes.
As a result, what needs to be continuously reinforced are the facts and information to verify these stories, as it’s been proven that it’s the stories which solidifies that someone will conduct business with you.
Work Smarter Not Longer
The majority of companies will still encourage or insist that their employee’s work longer hours, thinking that having less employees to do more work will improve their bottom line. This belief may of worked in the past, but no longer valid.
In a study that was conducted over a century ago, it was agreed that the “sweet spot” to get maximum production from workers was 40 hours a week, which still remains correct today.
It was found that working additional hours created just a small increase in worker productivity and morale, which can at times turn negative. The biggest issue when overworked was that the workers began making too many mistakes. The modern day solution is working smarter not harder.
This doesn’t mean adding yet more technology, although it does allow for multitasking. The solution is spending your time doing things which matters the most. The basic economic model being 80% percent of your effort comes from 20% percent of your actions.
In business, this applies to 80% percent of your sales will come from 20% percent of your customers, or 80% percent of your sales will come from the top 20% percent of your sales staff.
So to make your company more efficient, focus more on the 20% percent which are the most productive, and less on the 80% percent who aren’t. This based on the notion of core competency.
Honesty Is The Best Policy
In the past, the majority of companies looked a corporate ethics as an expense. The assumption being that it’s usually more profitable to cheat, to be deceptive than to play fair, this provided you don’t get caught.
But the truth being that this “cheating” actually has hidden costs, even when the company thinks they’re getting away with it. It’s found that the employees who knew of this deception, felt conflict and either wanted to leave, or were okay with it.
The best employees fall into the first group which creates the expensive of employee turnover, which is estimated to be three times the cost of keeping an existing employee.
So rather than attempting to deceive, how about creating a moral and ethical corporate culture which avoids unnecessary expenses, and the guilt that’s incurred, even if you get away with it.
Reducing Worker Stress
What’s been proven by scientific fact that stress is the biggest detractor of success. What stress results in is a complete host of health issues including muscle pain and tension, which results in headaches, fatigue, chest pain, anxiety, insomnia, and a lack of motivation.
Any of these health problems will put a dent into your productivity usually because of worker absenteeism, and once combined with the insistence of working longer hours, results in employees who goes home when ill with communicable diseases.
In the workplace, it’s found that the main source of stress is the sense that there’s too much work to do, and not enough time to do it. Then a climate of fear develops which creates anxiety, this based on the belief that management will punish failure, such as they getting fired.
There are companies who thrives on this type of culture which is based on fear. These are the companies who also has extremely high employee turnover.
What’s also known is that the biggest expense for any company is employee turnover, which drains profit. So the most effective approach is creating an environment which is less stressful by implementing better principles.
Creating An Environment Of Teamwork
What businesses conventionally think is that they’ll succeed if they hire a bunch of overachievers. That hiring “superstars” will get more work done quicker and more efficiently, which increases profit.
This philosophy is based on the concept that’s known as stack ranking, which is a workforce that’s graded based on the individuals productivity. The worse performer usually being fired. Then you attempt to recruit new candidates who resembles your best top performers.
Although this sounds reasonable in theory, it doesn’t work that well in actual practice. What stack ranking results in is dysfunctional behavior, this since the employees are coerced into performing better, while attempting to make the others look bad.
Business success should always be based on a team effort. The most successful of companies hires employees who are able to leave their egos at the door, while helping everyone become more effective and efficient.