Every company should have guiding principles that drive and govern everything: how decisions are made, how actions are carried out, how the team is treated...everything is done in accordance to these principles.
This forms the foundation of the company culture, so these guiding principles should be set from Day 1 by the company founders and then continued or updated later by professional leadership if founders move on to other roles or leave the company entirely.
In this blog post I’m going to share my four guiding principles for any company I am involved with. I’ve been thinking about and following these principles for years, but this is the first time I’ve captured them together as a set, and the first time I’ve created an acronym out of them.
E2FI = Excellence, Empathy, Fairness & Integrity
I have them in this order, not simply because the acronym has a nice sound to it. These are all equally important but like any foundation there are layers that support each other, and together should form the guiding principles on which a company operates.
Excellence
Any organization should strive to be the best at what they do. They should have the best products and/or services available on the market. They should offer the best experience to their users and paying clients. They should offer excellent service and handle issues that arise in the most professional and courteous way possible.
Every member of the team should always strive to do their best, day in and day out. Be the best teammate you can be when dealing with and interacting with colleagues...and especially treat subordinate staff with respect and courtesy. Work smart and put in an excellent effort to deliver the best work product possible. Be proud of your work.
Both the company and the individual team members should always strive to achieve their objectives or targets. Hitting targets and delivery dates, or coming very close when falling short is very important to the success of the company. Being consistently good in this regard builds trust and respect between the team and the leadership and ownership of the company.
Empathy
Empathy is a commonly used term today and is defined as the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference; that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position.
Empathy is an important tool for every person to have, both professionally and in their personal life.
Understanding what another person may be going through behind closed doors and understanding why they are behaving the way they are, will make situations easier to deal with.
Very rarely are a person’s actions completely random; there is always some reason why people do what they do. Taking time to understand the reasons behind someone’s action is an important skill to have. Having this empathy will help shape your thinking - your actions and your response. It inevitably reduces the amount of conflict, or can quickly diffuse tense situations.
Companies can have empathy within the corporate culture through their policies, and the strategies they adopt. The plans the company executes and the actions an organization takes can be based on an understanding or empathy towards another company or individual. Again having empathy can help avoid issues escalating and diffuse tension with another organization.
Obviously this occurs through the actions of the company employees, but certainly an entire organization can be empathetic through these acts and by way of its culture.
Fairness
In this context fairness refers to the manner in which an organization’s leadership treats the team members, middle managers deal with their staff and to some extent colleagues treat each other.
Examples of fairness can include paying people on the team the same salaries, or generally the same compensation package, when they are doing the same type of work. Some people may be paid more if they have more years of service with the organization. This is fair.
Another example of fairness would be to pay someone who may be younger or with fewer years of service at the company, a higher salary because of the level, quantity and quality of work product they produce, or the level of responsibility they handle. It is fair that people adding more value to the company as noted in this example, should be paid more.
Fair is not the same as equal. I do not believe everyone in the company should be treated equally. Not all employees are equally valuable to an organization. Not all employees carry the same amount of responsibility or accountability. Not all employees produce the same volume of high quality work product. This type of fairness is also often referred to as being merit-based, or operating as a meritocracy.
Integrity
Acting with integrity is about always doing the right thing. Standing by your employees or colleagues when they are “in the right”; taking a course of action that is the right thing to do, even if it costs the company more money, or it means losing a valuable piece of business.
Dealing with the team can be challenging at times. But after thinking through everyone’s perspective, and understanding the facts of the situation and acknowledging any prior statements or expectations, usually the right course of action becomes obvious.
Organizations have targets and expectations to meet, either for their investors and shareholders. Promises may have been made to employees . It’s tough to fall short on these and all competent business leaders never want to disappoint. It can be tough to see the big picture or think long-term under these circumstances.
But similar to when dealing with employees, usually by understanding the circumstances and using empathy the right course of action becomes clear. Spending more money can be tough when it impacts performance targets, as can potentially losing a client who would contribute considerable revenue towards top-line targets. But if it means compromising your integrity, either personally or that of the company, I can’t think of a single instance that would be worth making that compromise.
E2FI - Excellence, Empathy, Fairness & Integrity...the guiding principles for a successful and responsible organization.
Thank you for investing time in reading this post. Questions and comments are always welcome.
Shail Paliwal
Opmerkingen