By Ed Martinez, PHR
Whether a company is evolving from the inception to the growth stage or from the mature to the declining stage, changes and challenges are certain to be a part of that process. However sudden and abrupt changes to an established organization can either leave tracks of success or nasty scratches that leave unpleasant memories for a lifetime. Organizational leaders that focus only on what goes out the door without much concern about internal valuable assets can be likened to the careless individuals who move heavy furniture on beautiful stained wood floors that leave large and unsightly scratches.
Ever increasing changes into today’s work environment have already created memories that can never be erased from the collective memories of the American workforce. Organizational pillars have fallen from grace and past employees have sought revenge from real and imagined employers’ wrong doings by returning to the worksite and committing criminal acts of violence. ‘As The World Turns’ is not only a soap opera name for the domestic engineers to watch on TV but can apply to the worksite. Real life is happening as our work force seeks to find the real meaning of life through organizational change. Coping with loss of jobs, lowered salaries, and the less than professional behavior of some leaders have caused many people to stop and wonder if they too will be part of the statistics.
As a working people, we all take pride in the beautiful shiny wood floors that we create during our working days. It feels great to build a career from a dull looking, unfinished floor to a successful top-of-the-ladder birds-eye view. It takes time, effort, diligence, and determination to build a successful, meaningful and satisfying career. Every successful step taken towards personal development and growth adds another coat of shine to our wood floors and the floors of the companies we grace. The sacrifices made in personal lives to achieve career success are not to be viewed as mandated chores but as decisions to participate in a system which is part of the American culture and the benefit of living and prospering in the freest country in the world!
Organizational leadership that looks holistically at the entire organization as a valuable asset will take pride in the human efforts that comprise its overall success. Daily decisions made by company leaders should always consider the overall impact their decisions have on those people who are ‘buffing their wood floors’. Taking care to watch every move made with proper communication will yield valuable dividends in many different ways.
Regardless of the leadership style, every leader must consider their actions and how they affect others. Changes that produce positive organizational results are ultimately the goal of effective company leaders and every step counts towards positive memories or nasty scratches on the wood floors. Let us all take pride in our roles as leaders or beginner buffers and do the right things by others so our own floors can maintain the luster and shine we have built so far. Success and prosperity are not worth the nasty scratches on anyone’s hard (working) wood floors. Let us be remembered by the people we touch as leaders who care enough to keep from scratching others wood floors. Happy buffing!
Edwin Martinez is a Certified Human Resources Professional (PHR) with over 20 years of HR experience. He has served in many roles in the HR field from Employee Relations to HR Manager/Director. He also has experience as an entrepreneur and was featured on Fox News and Faces of Achievement in the Charlotte Observer newspaper for his work and commitment to advancing the Latino aspects of HR in today’s changing work environment. Ed is a degree candidate in Business Management and has launched his new HR Newsletter called “HR Life Words...The HR Newsletter with an inspirational Win Message... featuring EdWin Motivations”. Ed enjoys motivational public speaking, acting, and industrial/commercial for various companies. Ed is the bilingual HR Marketing Consultant with The Resourcing Solutions Group, Inc. in Charlotte, NC, emartinez@workforcediv.com
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