The Most Overlooked Business Power Tool -- Decency
The Economics of Decency, Part 1
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
“IQ is really important. EQ is really important. What really matters to me is DQ. If you can bring your decency quotient to work every day, you will make the company a lot of fun for people, and people will enjoy being there and doing the right thing.”
- Ajay Banga, CEO of Mastercard
Being kind, thoughtful and decent to other people isn’t a new or complex idea. It’s one most people easily agree with, in fact. But often, decency is viewed as at odds with corporate culture and policy, as antithetical to profit and business success. I would assert, though, that not only does decency not hamper corporate success, it promotes it. Some high-profile CEOs agree.
Excerpts from Havard Business Review, November 2020, Bill Boulding:
Unfortunately, we have far too many examples in business of what happens when decency fails. The Great Recession is a case in point. Ten years later, business, particularly in the financial sector, is still trying to win back trust from a public who came to believe the industry was greedy, self-serving, and focused on the bottom line at the expense of the greater good.
Brian Moynihan, CEO Bank of America
Moynihan, CEO since 2010, helped usher in an era of increasing reliance on digital applications and a reduced need for human power. How did Bank of America reduce headcount by almost 100,000 people since he became CEO, without a major public outcry?
Moynihan and his team decided to let attrition — be it due to retirement or employees simply leaving for new jobs — be their friend. Instead, when an employee left the company, the bank evaluated the best way to move forward. Sometimes that meant developing current team members by providing additional responsibilities and compensation. Sometimes it meant redesigning work for changing operational needs.
Either way, this focus has allowed the firm to make important changes. Cost savings allowed Bank of America to increase its severance pay to a year-and-a-half for employees who have been with the company many years and have also allowed it to increase outplacement programs. Further, these savings helped to boost some employee benefits like parental leave, bereavement leave, counseling support, and fertility and adoption resources and support.
Excerpts from Forbes, July 2002, Tara Weiss:
Reuben Mark of Colgate-Palmolive
He's the poster child for decency and humility. His philosophy is, "I make sure nothing important or big-time creative is ever perceived as my idea." He'll walk onto the factory floor in Mexico City and tell a joke in Spanish. He's a mensch.
Ken Iverson, former CEO of the American steel company Nucor
He answered his own phone, did not permit privileged parking spaces or luncheon spaces. He had everyone--including himself--on the same compensation plan. He was the laureate of egalitarianism.
Doug Conant, CEO of Campbell Soup Co.
At the end of many workdays, he sits with a few of his direct reports and asks about things people have done that have gone above and beyond. He listens to the stories and he writes "thank you" notes on cards in his own hand specific to what the employee did. In terms of a retention character, it's huge.
Herb Baum, former CEO of Dial
He did "hot dogs with Herb." He walked onto a factory floor or an office unannounced and served lunch and answered questions until the last person's question was answered.
Herb Kelleher, founder and CEO of Southwest Airlines
His motto was "there's no such thing as little people." He identified people in unglamorous jobs and made heroes of them. Facility people were given the Top Wrench award and the maintenance crew was given the Top Cleaner award. He looked to put people into the spotlight people who weren't in the spotlight.
“The constitution of being a fundamentally decent person primarily consists in the “nots.” Not being a brute. Not assuming the worst in someone. Not making someone’s life harder than it already is. But, as I’ve shown, there are also proactive and practical ways to turn being a fundamentally decent person into actions, big and small.”
-- Brett Milam, Clermont Sun, July, 2021)
Cheers,
Further Reading:
Treating Staff with Decency Pays Dividends, by Tera Weiss, Forbes, July 5, 2007
Fundamental #22: DEMONSTRATE URGENCY IN RESPONSE TIME AND FOLLOW-UP
Model enthusiasm in your response to issues and rigor in your follow-up. Make sure your work is accurate, complete, and timely. Keep people updated, and make sure they are clear about your communication.
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