Stephanie Klein, president and CEO of the Experience Factor, is a regular columnist for the Denver Business Journal. Her most recent column is reposted here.
It’s been fascinating reading the backlash and comments about the recent New York Times article examining the workplace culture at Amazon.com Inc.
According to the Times, many white-collar workers at Amazon are subject to an intense work environment where data driven decisions drive high-stakes internal competition and extreme expectations, causing many employees to cry, take anti-depressants and ultimately leave the organization.Some vocal critics of Amazon have even encouraged a boycott of Amazon in protest.
But with data more accessible, meaningful and ubiquitous, how do we find the balance between what the data says is possible, and what employees might believe is impossible?
Our economic system is a great equalizer. There’s constant pushing and pulling; over time the pendulum always swings back the other direction. Charge too much for your services, and a competitor will charge less, and put you out of business. Focus too heavily on being the low-cost leader, and soon you won’t have money to invest in your business, and you’ll be out of business.
Too much emphasis on your people and not the business, and you might not have the revenue to sustain their jobs. Focus too much on your business’ analytics and productivity, and you might find it difficult to attract and retain top talent to fuel your growth.
In business like everything else, it’s all about balance.
Some people thrive in extremely competitive environments like Amazon. They argue that it brings out the best in everyone. That’s how wildly ambitious goals are achieved. However, unchecked internal competition can lead to fear and ultimately fatigue, and even the most intense, bright, and competitive employees will one day quit, or their family and friends will quit them.
Further, intense internal competition also results in back stabbing, and significant wasted time second guessing every move for fear of reprisal. It has been studied and verified numerous times that fear-based leadership does not motivate, and does not lead to long-term corporate sustainability.
One could certainly argue that Amazon’s culture of results and innovation coupled with a relentless focus to enhance their customer’s experience does indeed drive their strategy “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything.” However, without a more balanced approach, their business strategy could indeed destroy their culture because it leaves out the importance of the actual individuals that work to bring better goods and services to their customers.
Driving performance with data is a great thing. With better data we forecast better, understand the true costs associated with our business, and can course correct with better accuracy. With better data we can infinitely improve almost every aspect of our operations…except for one aspect; our people.
People have baggage, they’re emotional, they have feelings, families, and can respond in unconventional ways to conventional issues. One management tenant that survived the industrial age, and is still relevant in our information age is the notion that if you take better care of your employees, they in turn will take better care of your customers.
The challenge for any business is finding the right balance of growth, while leveraging technology and simultaneously driving a culture of caring for employees.
And if you need help looking for the right ways to manage all these competing factors, Amazon has a million books you can order to help.