Employee Committment Modern Tribes And The Death Of Entitlement

Writen by John-Scott Dixon

In many parts of the world, people still band together in primitive tribes. They work in unison and do whatever is necessary to survive. Life is harsh. When they make mistakes, they die. We are lucky in that for our modern tribes or companies the consequence of failure is rarely death. Of all similarities between tribes, primitive and modern, it is the ability to maintain battle readiness during times of prosperity that is most critical.

When the living is easy, the opportunities to work in harmony under stress are infrequent. Teamwork skills soften. There is very little need for personal sacrifice, as success is abundant. However, when times turn tough, it is common for individuals to believe that they will be insulated from risk. If they continue doing as they did in prosperity, they will be fine. In modern tribes, people may deny that times have changed. They are offended when asked to make personal sacrifices for the good of the tribe. They believe that the tribe will always succeed and has an obligation to take care of them. They are unaware that it is their obligation to preserve the tribe and that this duty cannot be delegated. They fail to recognize the relationship between the tribe's continued success and their future success. When that approach is adopted widely by a tribe, it may be fatal.

Companies perpetuate the scenario above when they don't help their employees make the connection between performance and the bottom line. Employees are often insulated from the harsh realities of business (i.e. maintaining profitability, managing accounts receivable, etc.). Managers allow deadlines to shift without demonstrating or understanding financial impact. It is common to understand the potential financial impact and priority of each activity/project to be performed. What seems rare is to know the expected budget (i.e. hours, pro rata share of company resources, opportunity cost, etc.) required to perform each activity or complete a project. Many times, the interlocking aspect of an activity is poorly communicated (i.e. someone needs to hang drywall before someone else can begin painting). These are the things that are really important. They are controllable. Whereas, the outcome of a specific project is often a gamble. So, the question is what are you doing to demonstrate the costs and potential loss associated with an activity/project to your employees?

John-Scott Dixon, President - ThoughtLava I have over a decade of experience managing and leading the Ecommerce efforts of medium and large companies. I have held sales, sales management, marketing, operations, IS/IT, legal and executive management positions in start-up to multi-billion dollar organizations. I have also served as an adjunct professor of Ecommerce for the MBA program of the University of Missouri. I led the Ecommerce initiative for Sprint PCS (PCS) and Sprint (FON) as Vice President of Ecommerce. I led the integrated marketing efforts for Insight (NSIT) as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Ecommerce. Today, I am the President of Thought Lava, an integrated marketing and Web strategy consulting company. We generate and direct the flow of creative ideas to develop Internet marketing strategies that increase revenue and reduce operational costs while supporting your brand. Contact us at info@thoughtlava.com or 877.567.LAVA to begin a discussion.