Anything For You All: INSTANT MBA: Make Commitments To Your Employees, And Keep Them

Senin, 21 November 2011

INSTANT MBA: Make Commitments To Your Employees, And Keep Them

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Monday, November 21, 2011

Today's advice comes from Arryve co-founder and partner Chris Smith:

"Commitments are good business and a serious responsibility. More and more Business 2.0 is all about the equal relationships between the employer and they employee, so those commitments apply to culture as much as anything else."

Smith, along with his partner, Chris Stephenson, has grown his management consulting firm to one with more than 60 employees that generates $11 million in annual revenues in just four years. Arryve's aim is to provide specialized services to companies large and small, but at a lesser price than the bigger firms out there.

So far, so good. Smith credits their success to a sustained focus on intra-office dynamics, and their prioritization of people. At the firm, employees who dedicate five years of work can opt for either a $25,000 bonus or a two-month paid sabbatical. Adding in those kind of incentives not only keeps people around, but keeps people happy because they feel valued.

And that worker-oriented thinking doesn't waver in tough economic times. When Arryve, like thousands of other U.S. businesses, faced fiscal challenges as the economy dropped off a few years ago, Smith and Stephenson refused to lay off workers, instead increasing benefits and hiring.

"Even though we took a short-term hit to the bottom line, those decisions helped reinforce the commitments we made and set us up for future success."

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