This reminds me of people-first companies like Chick-fil-A that unapologetically treat their employees well. The result? One of the highest quality, most efficient fast-food restaurants in the business.
The same is true across all sectors; the employees play a large part in determining if the customer is satisfied or not.
Prioritizing employees in a remote setting looks different than it used to, but is still an important part of any business. Great article.
Same is true for Costco and Trader Joe's; used to be true for Whole Food but I'm less certain if that still holds. They all overperform from a customer perspective as well. As Rosie Sargeant notes in her recent TED talk, Trader Joes intentionally overstaffs: clerks are less stressed, employees better served:
This was an awesome read Brian! I once worked as a content specialist and that was the best company I’ve ever worked at because it employed lots of collaboration and it operated as if everyone has full trust in their teams. It felt as if everyone knew and understood the importance of their roles and acted on it. That’s something different than a lot of the other workplace cultures I’ve been in. Hopefully AI can make it even better.💪💪💪💪
Thanks so much! I've had a couple of similar experiences, once at a startup that I was leading and later at Slack. I learned the second time around to appreciate it while it was happening -- it's unfotunately too rare!
Love this, Brian. If leaders didn’t prioritize employee well-being before AI, they definitely should now. And not every organization is even focused on efficiency—higher ed and government come to mind.
I worked in higher ed and wanted to make things more efficient, but the system wasn’t built for it. So I didn’t even have that. I’m a big believer in employee-centered workplaces. The data is clear: when people feel supported, they’re more engaged and more productive.
This reminds me of people-first companies like Chick-fil-A that unapologetically treat their employees well. The result? One of the highest quality, most efficient fast-food restaurants in the business.
The same is true across all sectors; the employees play a large part in determining if the customer is satisfied or not.
Prioritizing employees in a remote setting looks different than it used to, but is still an important part of any business. Great article.
Same is true for Costco and Trader Joe's; used to be true for Whole Food but I'm less certain if that still holds. They all overperform from a customer perspective as well. As Rosie Sargeant notes in her recent TED talk, Trader Joes intentionally overstaffs: clerks are less stressed, employees better served:
https://www.ted.com/talks/rosie_sargeant_why_joy_and_flexibility_are_good_for_business
This was an awesome read Brian! I once worked as a content specialist and that was the best company I’ve ever worked at because it employed lots of collaboration and it operated as if everyone has full trust in their teams. It felt as if everyone knew and understood the importance of their roles and acted on it. That’s something different than a lot of the other workplace cultures I’ve been in. Hopefully AI can make it even better.💪💪💪💪
Thanks so much! I've had a couple of similar experiences, once at a startup that I was leading and later at Slack. I learned the second time around to appreciate it while it was happening -- it's unfotunately too rare!
Love this, Brian. If leaders didn’t prioritize employee well-being before AI, they definitely should now. And not every organization is even focused on efficiency—higher ed and government come to mind.
I worked in higher ed and wanted to make things more efficient, but the system wasn’t built for it. So I didn’t even have that. I’m a big believer in employee-centered workplaces. The data is clear: when people feel supported, they’re more engaged and more productive.
It's kinda sad that higher ed has those struggles, but I've heard that from others as well.