Opus Dei Management

I recently read an article by Jeffrey Pfeffer called The Benefits of Company as Family. It caught my eye because of the reference to Opus Dei which was a big part of The Da Vinci Code - good movie. Pfeffer talks about the three weeks he spent at IESE, a Spanish business school founded by Opus Dei in 1958. There they have a bigger emphasis on ethics and values than other business schools.

Where alot of schools AND businesses overlook the personal relationships of their staff, IESE emphasizes the long-term. They have more personal commitment to their students/faculty with a caring culture. The alumni association boasts enrollment of forty percent of the schools alumni - Wow. The dean of the school arranged all doctors appointments and transportation for Pfeffer's wife when she took ill while visiting. Take care and get to know your students/staff now and they'll be there for years to come.

In Pfeffer's same article he talks about U.K.-based Innovation Group. They have lowered their employee turnover from 30% to 4%. Huh? No typo here. When new staff come on board, their spouses receive flowers as a welcome to the company. Family members are invited to every social function they hold - no sneaking around the copy room. And because there is so much travel involved, the company offers concierge services and gifts to recognize their sacrifices. FOUR PERCENT turnover. The industry STANDARD is 30%.

Take those extra steps - they count. You don't need to spend an exorbitant amount of money or go way out of your way to make an organization more liked. Just be more "human", less "corporate".

It Begins

Welcome to the first blog in which I hope to share some personal ideas, and reviews of things I've read, heard and experienced. My focus will be on supervisory and managerial techniques as they relate to the motivation of staff. Working mainly in training & development for the past 20 years, you'll see quite a bit of that also. It really all goes hand-in-hand.

This is a place for all to share experiences and ideas - for me to learn as much as for you. I'll be posting at least a couple times a week.

Things have been changing over the last few years - definitely for the better - in the way that companies are treating employees. They're looking past the traditional benefits and providing more "perks". I'm sure you've all heard of Google and the way they've re-drawn the office setting. But yet there are the ever present "cube farms". Not too conducive to quality work. Don't even get me started there (although I'm sure I will).