Putting People First

“Putting People First” is the brand name of a program first implemented by Scandinavian Air Service (SAS) in the 1970s. It was intended to change ground- and cabin-staffs’ behavior so they would provide better customer service. Since then, the title has been used for many corporate programs. There are books, three-day training classes, and blogs. There’s almost a science now to putting people first.
In much of this, though, the principles have been lost. We think it’s just something you need if you’re in customer service; it’s only applicable in the work world or it’s something everyone else needs to do.

Bible scholars will tell you that “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is a critical concept for Christians. You’ll find much discussion about who my neighbor is but less about what loving them means.

Think of loving thy neighbor and putting people first as the same thing. Loving someone means, in practical terms, putting their wants and needs ahead of your own, all the time. We serve each other.

In business, everything we do results in an action that affects at least one other person. It may be a customer or business partner; it may be the person downstream from us on the product- or service-line that needs something we produce. It may be the unknown person on the phone who’s calling a wrong number. It may be a nervous candidate for the new job on the janitorial staff.

Success in business, particularly in business transitions comes from respecting the people we deal with and learning to “love” them. (“Love” is in quotes because for some this may seem a strange business concept!)

As you begin an interaction, do whatever you can to put the other person at ease and get them comfortable. As you leave an interaction make sure the other person knows what the next steps are. Make sure the interaction is always a pleasant one for them. As you design that new business process, think about the people who are downstream from you and make sure you’ve understood their needs – really understood them and played them back so they know you’ve understood them.

Three Legged Stools

Have you ever noticed how many strategies, methods and procedures use the “three-legged-stool” analogy? (Network Marketing, Human Resource, Development, End user authentication, Business Transition and Improvement Projects, to name a few).

If you Google “People, Process, Technology” you’ll find over 40 pages of diagrams trying to portray this approach to business transitions.

One leg common to many of these three-legged strategies is labeled “People”. Usually that means some mix of organization development, leadership, personnel selection and roles/responsibilities.

Rarely does the “people leg” include culture, language, influence or behavior. Because of these missing pieces, this leg is invariably much shorter than the others. The result? Business transitions are rocky. Transitions are successful when they bring the three legs of the stool back into balance.

What does this mean?

First, it means business leaders must adapt to globalization and new styles of business collaboration. They must understand how to integrate. They must be able to negotiate agreements that their staff can actually execute. Participants in change must be able to lead, influence and motivate each other, regardless of their cultural norms. If their behaviors and styles conflict, barriers are built very quickly.

Focusing on top down organizational change does not by itself create an environment where multi-cultural staff can be successful. And we’re talking about corporate as well as national and tribal cultures here. Leaders must bring new knowledge and techniques to their transition teams early in the process, before new cultural barriers have had time to solidify.

If people can’t relate to one another, that three-legged stool may well topple over Sound leadership and understanding can eliminate this risk.