Part 1| The P. Element: Your Most Important Business Resource

From smart devices to home assistant gadgets, the digital world has infiltrated every aspect of our life and work. We contemplate how tech can enhance the production efficiency and hopefully bring us to the next breakthrough in business.

Even though technology is front-and-center in today’s corporate world, the P. element (People) is the driving force behind all the moving parts from planning, integration to implementation.

As the number of jobs that require cognitive skill increases, people are more important than ever. This is true especially for “thought jobs” – jobs that require a higher level of creativity, problem-solving prowess and out-of-the-box thinking. Every part of your business boils down to people. By understanding the P. element, we can lead more effectively, create brand loyalty, increase productivity that results in more profitability.   

To secure these benefits, we must build the P. element into your company’s core values of trusting, understanding, supporting, and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable & to fail. We, as a leader, must spend time to understand our people’s motivation and help them achieve their personal goals. For a newly wedded team member, it can be all about earning more money to build a solid financial foundation for his family. For a recently graduated employee, what important is to acquire hands-on job skills & knowledge. For others, it might be all about the purpose and the great cause of business…Employee performance improves when we tie individual goals to company goals in a meaningful way. The best leaders understand what makes people tick, so give our teammates what they need to succeed and hold them accountable to our expectations.

Autonomy is another critical aspect of motivating employees. Our team members, despite their position either a Receptionist or a Warehouse Worker or an Accountant or a Process Manager, are great home project managers. They budget, coordinate resources to successfully host a beautiful family get together dinner, or a celebration party, or a quinceanera and sweet 16… Provide them the resources they need and clear expectations, step back and be amazed at what they deliver.

No matter what business we are in, the people element is omnipresent. Leading with empathy is the best way to attain success in business, and by cultivating a culture that prioritizes the people element, we can get back to what really matters.