Tip 67: Take care of your awesome people

Customers notice when you do right by the people that work for you. And if you have awesome people that your customers have grown to care about, they’ll want to know that you’re taking care of their friends.

Employees that are treated well tend to be happier in their work. As a result, they are much more likely to treat your customers better. From your customers’ point of view, companies that do right by their team are much more likely to do right by customers. Especially in a world where many companies treat their employees like crap.

Examples

In Detroit, fast food company Moo Cluck Moo is treating their employees well by starting store workers at $15/hour instead of minimum wage. That’s well above the industry norm, and they’re reaping many positive benefits because of it.
Starbucks has a long history of taking care of their awesome baristas. Employees, or partners as Starbucks calls them, are eligible for health benefits through the company by working just 20 hours a week. That’s pretty awesome in a world where many companies in the U.S. require their people to work a full-time schedule to access benefits.

Suggestions

Don’t assume you know what the people on your team need and want most. Ask them instead. The better you get to know them as people, the better you’ll be able to take care of them.
Different people are motivated by different things. So when it comes to treating the people on your team well, find ways to reward them in a manner that speaks directly to who they are and what they value most.

Application for your business

Brainstorm five things you can do to take care of the awesome people on your team.
Write down two things you can implement immediately to get more connected to the people on your team.