It’s about our people

It was his fine face that got my attention. Yes, he is an old friend I have not seen for quite a while now. You know how it is, seeing the picture of someone you know on the pages of a magazine. I had just finished reading my article on: “Are you satisfied with life” published on vol. 7 of M2 (Marketing +Business Intelligence), I decided to glance through the news page when I saw him.

I know you are already wondering and curious to know who I’m referring to. What I read about his recent achievements and the how, which he stated, inspired this write up. He said; “Our people are the reason why we are where we are. From the base to the peak, we believe we have the best crop of hands in the industry. We invest heavily in personnel development.”-Ikechi Odigbo, Managing Director, DDB.

Really, it’s about our people. Who are your people? It takes people to connect with people. I mean, it takes people on the inside of an organization to connect with people outside of the organization. When an organization makes it a goal to help the people on the inside to arrive, they in turn will help the people outside the organization to arrive and at the end of all the transactions; the organization will have a better share of the people’s heart, minds and pockets( both internal and external)

The three major or critical success factors in any organization are: the people; contents and processes. These three may stand alone but they are inseparable. Contents and processes are very important; they form what you are as an organization not who you are. They are your products or services and networks. The people drive both the products or services and the networks. The people are the core or essence of any organization (organization is about people for the people and by the people). They are the human brand agents. They are flexible and responsive unlike the physical brand agents like products or logo, colours etc.

What makes people committed to any organization is a combination of good salaries; good health scheme and good mentorship. Any organization that is skillful in the administration of these key factors in motivating staff will definitely achieve excellence as reflected in the awards won by DDB. I have observed that most organization by default, lean on providing good salaries while neglecting good health scheme and good mentorship. They believe that, salaries are just enough. Without mentorship, people can misuse or misdirect the proper use of salaries to the detriment of their health.

Any organization that does not have the right mix of the above factors will find it very hard to have profitable relationship with both internal and external customers. Can I tell you a little secrets, it’s the mix that connect external customers. Having the perfect mix is the big challenge to most organization. There is a formula or principles for arriving at the perfect mix and it is very simple.