This is an all too familiar scenario. A group of employees are booked to attend a conference or meeting
interstate or overseas.

They arrive at the airport and saunter over to the economy-class check-in line which, as always, is long and crowded. There is excitement amongst the group about the travels plans and the good times ahead. One of the group notices the boss over in the distance at the business class check-in counter nonchalantly joking with the check-in personnel. The boss had not mentioned that he was flying business class while everyone else would be seated at the back of the plane. There are a few uncomplimentary comments made about the different rules for different people. Some resentment sets in and the excitement begins to drain out of the group.

Situations like this are nonsense. If you can’t bare flying economy class then make sure no-one else in your team has to either. It will cost more money but it will resonate strongly with your team and they will love you for it. If you can’t afford to do this then EVERYONE should fly economy. Either way, consistency is crucial.

The same applies to reserved parking spots at the office. Whoever shows up first should get the pick of the car park. Why penalise the early birds by making them walk past the empty executive car spots on their way to their desk? If you want the spot closest to the front door then show up first and claim it.

There are many other examples of this including private executive bathrooms and different hotel standards for different pay grades. These types of divisions are really saying “we’re better and more important than you” and even worse “we’re not prepared to do the things we ask you to do.” In modern business this is crazy.

But what’s the answer? It’s simply to create one set of rules for the company that covers every single person. Employees love the idea of one set of rules and it goes a long way to removing a “them and us” culture. If the only barrier to putting it in place is management’s unwillingness to give up some soft benefits then the business has deeper issues than this to resolve.

Business is hard enough and it’s made even harder with silly rules in place that stop teams developing cohesively. Sure there might be some short term discomfort for those at the top but that is unimportant. What matters is to develop and a foster a great internal team culture and you can’t do that if you have a system of soft (unevenly distributed) perks. Ditch them and install one set of rules for everyone. It’s a great way to let your people know that you’re all part of the same team. It’s even better when it sits alongside a merit-based rewards system but that’ll have to be the subject of another article

ARTICLE BY: THE BULL (VIEW MORE)

Comments

comments