Exploring Stewardship part 2

What does stewardship mean to my company?

There are companies out there organizing exceptional initiatives--Patagonia's 1% for the Planet is a great example--but not everybody has the luxury or scale for such programs. Every company, however, can protect one valuable resource: its people. If you prioritize your stewardship on your own people first and build outward, you'll find the next steps of growth will happen like dominoes falling. You can have the most impact right within your organization, and if you take care of your employees, they'll not only take care of you, they'll become stewards in their own right. It's a fact that employees who feel valued and supported also feel more emotionally invested in the company in return. That means they'll work harder, work smarter, remain loyal, and even recruit on your behalf.

Work environment
Support your employees, and they'll support you. But support comes from more than just a good benefits package. Support comes from a positive work environment, where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities, talent grows thanks to great mentoring, and recognition comes from the heart, not just the pocketbook. Environment is also a mindset of understanding your workforce. For example, ping-pong tables and open seating are likely to have less impact on a young parent's engagement than, say, a workplace that encourages regular hours, embraces work/life balance, and provides the option to work remotely when his or her kids come down with the flu.

Company values
Let's assume you aren't framing the Seven Deadly Sins to hang on the wall in your boardroom as company touchstones. More likely, you have some ambitious and honorable words written in fancy font in a brand guide somewhere under "Company Values." Now is the time to ask if you really live those values. If people come to work for you because you promote certain beliefs, you can be sure that those beliefs are as important to them as they are to your company. If you aren't truly practicing what you preach, you're opening the door to disenchantment, disengagement, and high turnover.

Acknowledgment
A part of positive culture that deserves its own section, acknowledgment is critical if you want to show your people you care about them. Along with that, it's important to show you value your people in the right way for the right reasons. Good work isn't the only thing worth rewarding; upholding company values and achieving personal goals are just as worthy of sincere praise, and if that praise gets delivered in front of an audience the recipient respects, it can have a lasting positive effect on everyone who witnesses it. Again, it all comes down to feeling valued and respected as an individual, not simply quantified as a cog in the machine or a servant to the bottom line.

Compensation
You don't have to pay better than anyone else in your industry to be a good steward of your workforce. A fair wage is more than a dollar figure; it implies fair compensation for the time and effort invested. Ask too much of employees, and any salary will be too little. The best approach is to do as much as you can with what you have and to be open and honest about compensation from the start. If you keep things transparent from the beginning, you're far less likely to experience departures due to expectations not being met.