I recently read the book The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly.
It is a story of a fictional janitorial company that created a position called a dream manager to meet the deepest needs of their employees. The details of the story were inspired by real life companies that did the same.
The fictional company, Admiral Janitorial Services, was experiencing a very high turnover rate. To find out why, they surveyed their employees. The first thing they discovered was the lack of dependable transportation among their workers. When they provided a permanent shuttle service they experienced a drop in turnover, coupled by increased employee engagement as the employees perceived that managers cared for them.
Inspired, they dug deeper and learned of the many goals and dreams of their workers. Thinking outside the box, they hired a dream manager to assist their employees in achieving their goals and dreams. Subsequently, Admiral Janitorial Services made a significant turnaround.
Employee loyalty, engagement, and productivity went up like the NASDAQ during the 90’s tech boom while turnover became a whisper.
Now I am not suggesting your company hire a dream manager.
But I do believe good things happen when we see our employees as people with full and varied lives, with dreams. When we help others align their dreams and goals outside work with their goals inside work, we see more engaged and productive employees.
An organization changes when the habits of the people who make up that organization change.
Get in the habit of pursuing your dreams and helping others achieve theirs and watch your organization take off!