The Only Two Things Your Employees Really Want: Attracting and Retaining Great People
by Jullien Gordon
If you guessed a raise and a promotion, you’re only partially right. The only two things your employees really want are to to feel valued and and to create value. Virgin and Johnson & Johnson have developed company cultures that put employees above shareholders. In his book “Losing My Virginity”, Richard Bronson, Founder and CEO of Virgin, states “Convention dictates that a company looks after its shareholders first, its customers next and last of all worries about its employees. Virgin does the opposite.
If you start off with a happy, well-motivated workforce, you’re far more likely to have happy customers. In due course the resulting profits will make shareholders happy.” Johnson & Johnson’s 60 year old Credo places employees second after customers, but before community and shareholders. Both companies recognize that their employees are their most valuable assets and thus create organizational cultures that allow employees to demonstrate their value.
