Employees Deserve to Be Treated Beautifully

Employees Deserve to Be Treated Beautifully

You deserve to be treated beautifully.

I have made this statement countless times over the years yet I always run into leaders and employees who are confused by what “beautiful” means but once I explain it – they want it! Treating employees beautifully also makes great business sense....

So let's start by reviewing the definition of Beautiful from the dictionary.

Adjective:

  1. having beauty; possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind:
  2. excellent of its kind:
  3. wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying. (I like this definition!)

How do I share this concept at work?

Here's one example. When I chat with our Business Leadership Program new hires (BLP - our new college grad program at LinkedIn) - I share my leadership principles. During that discussion, I shared the principle – Treat each other and potential candidatesbeautifully”. 

When the attendees thank me for my time – what do they remember? That phrase. I’ve spent 60+ minutes with this group, I’ve covered a lot of territory and that is the one phrase they repeat consistently and take away to use in their future roles. Why? Because it grabs their attention and their emotions. They want that experience for themselves.

Here are a couple feedback examples from a recent BLP session:

“….I really felt an emotional connection to your presentation, specifically regarding treating people beautifully….it inspired me!”

“ I loved your comments about treating those I speak with “beautifully” and will make sure to bring these values into this new chapter.”

Emotions are powerful motivators. Like Brian Grazer, Academy Award-winning Producer, said in a recent interview with Marc Andreessen “ Only communicate by igniting emotion. You can build from emotional energy.”

Let's dig a bit deeper. Although every employee is different, they all come to work to be a contributing member of the team, to be recognized for their contributions and to be treated fairly. However, I don’t hear anyone say in an interview, “ I also expect to be treated beautifully.” I think they should. I do.

Imagine when you are interviewing – regardless if you received a job offer or not – you were better served by having that interaction, that you gained insight into your values, your marketability – that the company helped you progress on your personal and professional journey. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? I thought so. Which is why I set that goal at LinkedIn. In fact – my recruiting team actively measures the net promoter scores (NPS) for all candidates with the goal of getting them as close to equal as possible.

I want those candidates who didn’t get that final offer to appreciate that experience and love that interaction with LinkedIn because they were treated beautifully. They won’t forget that experience.  Make business sense? Absolutely! They become our best referral network, talent brand champions and perhaps the next hired candidate in our pipeline.

Let me be even clearer. I believe compassion, respect and treating someone with dignity is a basic requirement. However, it isn’t sufficient. It doesn’t evoke an emotional response. It doesn’t pull you – the employee “in”. By committing to treat your employee’s beautifully, you give them the sense that you care about the “whole” person, not just their work product. They will know that even in tough times, perhaps receiving tough feedback, you will treat them well.

Leaders and employees can readily accept the terms “compassion” and “respect” but they trip up a bit on the word beautiful when I first use it. But they definitely remember it. Like I said, I use it intentionally. It conjures up a pleasant feeling. You smile. You want it for yourself. The opposite of treating someone beautiful ….treating them poorly. We all know that isn’t acceptable.

Remember that definition? Adjective:

  1. having beauty; possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind:
  2. excellent of its kind:
  3. wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying.

That sounds good to me! If we create great a work environment that ensures that every employee is treated beautifully, I believe that we will get the “best self” from those individuals. They will have higher performance, retention, be more creative and go the “extra yard.” It will be become an inclusive environment where everyone can be himself or herself. Now that is beautiful. It also creates a competitive advantage for companies that create this kind of culture.

So if you are creating a great place to work, hiring the very best and keeping them, shouldn’t you treat your employees and each other beautifully? What do we have to lose?  I think we all have a lot to gain. 

Photo credit: Will Miller - our LinkedIn staff photographer; Subject Dori Caminong  - Manager - Special Events, Civic and Social Innovation, GLIDE with her co-worker. Will memorializes our culture through pictures.  

Keighley-Ann Bell

Manager, APJ Data & Analytics Technology Partners: Supporting our technology partners build, scale, and accelerate their GTM strategies across APJ and global markets.

8y

Interesting read. I believe that people buy people and this doesn't just extend to a business-client relationship but also internally within an organization. Effective managers know their people individually and understand what makes them perform, knows their goals and aspirations both career-wise and outside, and because of this, treat them "beautifully", as you put it. People development is at the core of a successful manager and organization, if you've got that waxed, your people will go into battle for you every day they walk through your office doors! Will share this here at Meltwater South Africa, we strive to treat people beautifully every day on the job!

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Anyone who is having a difficult time sorting out an issue and blaming someone else for it, must read the "Leadership & Self Deception" book mentioned by Jon. It has the impact to change a person's life for the better!

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Jon Moody

Chief Revenue Officer - Helping schools with systems of support for mental health and wellness

8y

This reminds me of one of the greatest lessons I learned from a book called "Leadership and Self Deception". It teaches that we need to get "out of the box" by seeing and treating people as humans (with cares, needs, desires, etc) and not as objects. That is the way to get people to follow and be inspired. Trust people and encourage them to do their best work and they will perform without having to be micro managed.

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Kelly Vrescak

Chief Executive Officer

8y

Awesome article that captures so eloquently what the best talent in organizations are drawn to and why we shouldn't settle for anything less!

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Anssi Laurila

owner at EC&A Construction

8y

I agree I have been doing that for years!

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