Focus on people over profits

Early on in my career in the Omnicom family of companies, I was lucky enough to be invited into their leadership development program at Harvard Business School and Babson College.

One of the key frameworks we learned about is the Service Profit Chain. The short story on Service Profit Chain thinking goes like this.

1. Employees feel supported and equipped for success when they have systems, processes, frameworks, and incentives that are aligned to help them do their jobs effectively

2. When employees feel supported and equipped, their satisfaction increases

3. Satisfied employees are more likely to be productive employees, and satisfied, productive employees are more likely to go above and beyond for their customers (or donors)

4. Satisfied, productive employees create more value for their customers (by delivering higher levels of service, engaging better, and even creating programs and products that are more valuable for customers)

5. Service value increases customer satisfaction

6. Customer satisfaction results in higher levels of customer loyalty in the short and long-term

7. As loyalty increases, so too does revenue and profit (because customers spend more with your organization, and customer relationships are less costly to manage)

This means that as you invest more in your people, your culture will improve. And as your culture improves, so too will your revenue and profit.

Onward & Upward

Andrew