Why people give of their best

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the South East of England, so we decided to head for the coast. For us this means West Wittering with its wonderful sandy beach and it couldn't have been more stunning than it was yesterday! We ended up having lunch at the Russells Garden Centre restaurant which is fabulous as they serve real home cooked food not this plastic food services rubbish that has become the norm. To cut a long story short, we ended up buying a heavy oak coffee table (so it wasn't a cheap meal) and chatting to the guy who manages the furniture section. When we loaded the table into our estate he notice a bag from one of the largest nurseries in the country, which prompted him to say he had worked there for three months and hated it! He said that the directors were forever fighting, and departmental heads couldn't stand one another and the only thing that united them was that they all hated customers!!!! The good news is he really likes working at Russells which was established in 1946 but was taken over by Lesley and Richard Phillips in 1996 and you can sense that the employees are happy and are giving of their best.
It's not magic dust, but people give of their best when:-

• They feel valued and respected
• When they know whats going on in the business
• When they feel their voices are heard
• When they are developed to meet their full potential
• They know what is expected of them and they know through regular constructive feedback how they are doing
• Their achievements are recognised
• Their management is open and honest and they trust them
• They are given the responsibility and authority to do their jobs

Simple stuff but so often lacking in the organisations we have dealings with - don't they know good management + happy motivated people = great results???