Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2014 | Page 76

People BY NATE DAPORE

Newsflash: People
Really Do Matter!
Invest in your people for better results

O

n a personal level, I bet 100
percent of you agree with me
that people really do matter,
but are you living it every
day in your businesses? Based on a recent
PeopleMatter Institute survey, 40 percent
of businesses do not think they do a good
job engaging their hourly workforce.
While managing the stress and logistical operations of a multiple location business, it can be easy to analyze and focus
on productivity, efficiency, and sales to
increase profits and remain successful.
Streamlining processes, reducing overhead, and creating new marketing campaigns all can help you increase profits,
but only to a degree. What truly separates
the “good” from the “great” businesses is
their people.
Your best untapped resource
Believing that your people really do matter in the workplace—and taking steps to
show them how important they are to you
and your business every day—will be a
game changer for your company’s success.
During my travels and talks with business
owners around the nation, I have heard
countless stories that prove this theory,
so many that I recently gathered them
together in a book called PeopleMatter:
Driving Productivity, Efficiency, and Profits
Through Happier Team Members.
Take it from some of the most successful businesses out there: Your people and
their level of engagement with your company will define your success. We all can
improve in this area because as owners,
employees, co-workers, and fellow human
beings, we need to know we are valued
and appreciated continuously. There are
a hundred little things that you can do,
starting now, to make a drastic impact on

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MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE III, 2014

your bottom line simply by putting your
people first. Guaranteed.
The secret ingredient
So, what are these things? To effectively
engage and motivate your employees,
you first must understand who they are
and what they want. Louis Basile, CEO
of Wildflower Bread Company, shared a
story in the book’s foreword about being
a purpose- and values-driven company

There are a hundred
little things that you
can do, starting now,
to make a drastic
impact on your
bottom line simply by
putting your people
first. Guaranteed.
whose team members are self-described
“Breadheads.”
“Because the workforce tends to be
transient and turnover is high in the restaurant industry, some companies don’t
believe it’s worth the effort to invest in
people, because those people are not going to be around long enough to see the
fruits of their efforts,” says Basile. “From
my perspective, I feel we have to invest in
people. We have a responsibility to give
more than we ask to everyone who comes
in contact with Wildflower.”
At Wildflower, Breadheads created
the company’s purpose statement and
work hard every day to make sure they
not only serve excellent food but make a
difference in someone’s life. “If your team

members think that their only purpose is
to flip a burger or make a sandwich the
way the company wants it to be made,
then I know you won’t achieve the level
of engagement that you want and need
with today’s workforce to be successful,”
adds Basile. “Everyone wants to be appreciated. All of us want to believe that what
we do matters.”
Think differently
Putting people first is a different mindset than the traditional business world
we know. Start with you. Be a different
type of leader—one who focuses on the
“why” you are in business and effectively
communicate that—rather than one who
focuses on the “what” your business
does. Work on becoming an authentic,
self-aware leader who engages in behaviors that make people believe they
matter, including being open, curious,
and vulnerable.
Make sure your organization has a
purpose statement that inspires people
and that everyone within your business
knows it and understands it is important.
Giving people a purpose, not just a job,
will inspire their interactions with customers and each other.
The payoffs can be huge. The biggest value, however, comes from appreciating people, investing in people, and
using technology as a catalyst to support
your efforts. If you get the right people
on your team and really take the time to
understand, connect with, and develop
them, you’ll get greater productivity,
better customer service, a more positive
workplace, higher sales, lower turnover,
and more repeat business. And that’s just
the beginning.
Nate DaPore is president
and CEO of PeopleMatter.
He is passionate about providing team members,
including his own, with a
rewarding workplace experience that values creativity and innovation.
Contact him at 877-230-4088 or info@
peoplematter.com.