Are “People” Important? 3 Focus Areas on “People” and an OA

In this article, we will begin our focus on the “people” component of the Organizational Assessment (OA) for a handful of reasons. The primary reason is that it’s the least focused on part of OAs in general. Many people do not realize how important this component truly is. Let’s look into some key focus areas.
 

Focus 1: The Right Roles

Imagine you really enjoy speaking to people but then you are sat in front of a computer, it’s your job to tap data into a spreadsheet. Or what if you’re the type of person that people tire you out and you much prefer sitting in front of a computer and working the finances of your company all day long? How would you feel? 

People often lose interest or bore quickly from jobs that are not right for them. Thus engagement suffers. The person is too focused on the clock moving forward. The second the clock’s hands hits 5pm - they are out the door before you can blink.

However, when people are doing work that is fulfilling, work that they are good at, work that brings them joy - their performance will be out of the roof. How many times did you experience “time flies” vs “time is moving at snail's pace”? 

The psychological part of all this is that people need to win and succeed in whatever they are doing. If they are doing work that is too boring or that is not aligned with their strengths - they feel like they are “losing” out. But if they are doing work that they are really good at and that it excites them - they feel like they are constantly winning. 

Focus 2: Ownership

If a person is winning at his own, personal slot machine, does he now choose to move over to another slot machine or does he think that this slot machine is his personal ‘lucky’ slot machine?

You got it right.

That person sticks to their job because they feel that they “own” that job.

When people are given the opportunity to take ownership over their tasks, their jobs, and the things that they enjoy and are really good at, they are more responsible towards that job and task. They will get things done. 

Focus 3: Contention Prevention 

The time when people do not have perceived ownership, or when they are disengaged from their work is when they are not interested in the work or the tasks that they are provided and this opens up the possibility for contention. 

Mind you, contention is a whole discussion in itself, in fact, we will be sharing an article talking all about contention in the next week. But for the scope of this article, we will put it in the context of contention between employer and employee, or between vendor, partner, and/or collaborator. This contention will eventually grow into tension and blowout if it’s not taken care of and prevented right from the start. 

When we focus on the people, give them a reason to enjoy their work, and allow them to take ownership of their tasks - all these lead to preventing contention in the work environment. Without contention, people can better focus on doing their work more efficiently and effectively. 

In another article, we will discuss contentions and some tools that can help us deal with or prevent them from blowing up. 

For now, the question we will leave you with to consider is:

 

Are you working with the right people? Are you partnering up and collaborating with the right partners and collaborators?

 

Do you know why these questions are so important? 

It is because they will affect how your systems operate and they will affect your bottom line (the two other focuses of the OA)! 

Yermi Kurkus - is the co-founder of the Yermi Kurkus Consulting Group. With a family background in Entrepreneurship, a heart for community and philanthropy, and his love for psychology, Yermi dedicated his life to helping businesses thrive, earning an MA in Organizational and Industrial Psychology and is in the process of attaining his Doctorate in that same field. Today, Yermi creatively partners up with businesses to help them increase their value, productivity, and profitably by focusing on their operations and talent. The results of which helps facilitate the buying or selling of businesses as well as assisting in the overall well-being of the workplace and workforce.

To learn more about Yermi Kurkus feel free to follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. Or you can book your first 30-minute FREE consultation here.