{"id":53499,"date":"2022-04-22T22:55:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-23T02:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=53499"},"modified":"2022-04-22T23:17:32","modified_gmt":"2022-04-23T03:17:32","slug":"how-to-put-people-first-at-work-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-to-put-people-first-at-work-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Put People First at Work: 6 Global Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"

Putting people first at work can improve productivity, increase employee engagement, and enhance customer service. All of which leads to greater profitability. It\u2019s a win-win. But you\u2019ll need to know how to put people first at work to leverage these benefits<\/a>. This article shares examples from global organizations aiming to humanize their workplaces.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The Great Resignation<\/a> is a good (if not great) indicator that employees continue to feel disengaged at work. That leads to lower motivation and higher turnover. When people don\u2019t feel heard, are struggling with work-life balance, lack creativity or opportunity in their jobs, they\u2019re unhappy at work. If they don’t have meaningful work<\/a> or if they feel the environment is toxic, their engagement falters.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Yet, as this series on people-first work culture<\/a> has explored, an employee-first culture is not only important but also within reach. See how some global enterprises have done it.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"people-first<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Happy, healthy hotel employees: Marriott International<\/h2>\n

Marriott International has a long-standing history of a people-first approach. In Forbes, Rasmus Hougaard describes the hotelier<\/a> as “the epitome of a people-centric corporation.\u201d Marriott holds true to the perspective, \u201cIf we take care of our people, they will take care of our customers, and the customers will come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Back in the Great Depression, co-founders J.W. and Alice Marriott hired a staff doctor to ensure their employees had health care. That emphasis on happy, healthy employees persists today. The company created a \u201cholistic employee well-being program,\u201d which, in 2018, earned the American Psychological Association\u2019s Psychologically Healthy Workplace and Organizational Excellence Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

During the pandemic<\/a>, the company\u2019s leadership took salary cuts and continued to provide furloughed employees with health insurance.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Think time: Google<\/h2>\n

The tech giant has the scale and budget to do a great deal to engage employees. One policy it touts is \u201c20 percent time<\/a>,\u201d which encourages people to think in new ways. The idea is that employees set aside a day a week to work on something new or outside your normal job function. Back in 2004, when Google went public, the founders wrote that this time, \u201cempowers [employees] to be more creative and innovative. Many of our significant advances have happened in this manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Employees can also stir the creative juices by getting out on the campus to enjoy a bowling alley and yoga rooms, free food and happy hours, commute buses with Internet access, and even free laundry service.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Trust your people: SAS<\/h2>\n

SAS, which is consistently at the top of the Great Places to Work rankings year after year, preceded Google in having an in-house daycare center, gym, and pool as well as work-life counseling (and, of course, snacks).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Another reason the company\u2019s turnover rate is so low? Trust. The firm gives employees great flexibility on the hours they work and the time they take advantage of campus services.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Company CMO Jim Davis told Fast Company<\/a>, \u201cIf you trust people, and you ask them to do something\u2013and you treat them like a human being as opposed to a commodity where you try to squeeze something out\u2013they\u2019re going to work all sorts of hours. But they\u2019re going to enjoy those hours as opposed to \u2018slaving in the office.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"people-first<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

If the culture fits: Zappos<\/h2>\n

At Zappos, the priorities include \u201cWowing customers even over everything else,\u201d \u201cWeirdness even over fitting in,\u201d and \u201cPeople happiness even over profit.\u201d To that end, the company has many cultural initiatives<\/a> intended to put people first at work. These include:<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n