Some benefits of civility!

Gordon,

Thanks, this is a great little booklet!

It made me think of two things....

One was an article I read online recently.... (I've searched for it, though, and can't find it, I'm not sure where I read it....)

This article was talking about how mean-spiritedness seems to have increased nowadays in the workplace. Where a woman on pregnancy leave will return and find no work waiting for her. Where the workplace has become more of a brutalized dog-eat-dog world.

I can't comment directly on the truth of this, but it sounds like they need to read your booklet!

Also, it reminds me of the "decade of greed," the 1980s. In the 1980s, the "big thing" was cutting costs, and laying off your workers in order to increase profits. Many companies did this.

Then, only a few years ago, they looked back and did an analysis of the result of this. What they found was surprising.

The companies that laid off many employees, growed more SLOWLY in the 1990s than the companies which showed loyalty to their employees.

What they found had happened was this: if the company doesn't show loyalty to their employees, then employees also don't show any loyalty to the company.

However, in cases where the company does show loyalty to the employees, in that case the loyalty is reciprocated.

So what happened was that the companies that showed loyalty to their employees grew faster!

It turns out that laying off workers was a short-term solution, but not a long term one....

I think it shows the profit value of civility!

For those who have read Influence (which Taylor mentioned in a message below), you'll know about the law of reciprocity. That is, if you give people something, they'll feel a psychological obligation to give something back to you....

To me, civility is like this. If you want people to be civil to you, it's good to be civil to them first!

And lastly, I think it's much easier to feel a true passion for your business when you are being civil to others.... As they say, "no man or woman is an island," and because of that we do have to get along in a society....

Thank you Gordon.... I could go on and on and on about this topic.... I agree with you 100%! :)

- Dien