Peanut Butter and Honey

As I write this, I am sitting in my favorite writing spot, a coffee shop on the banks of the river in my city. Today I decided to have a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana. There is leftover peanut butter, so I decided to add a little honey to it, stir it together, and finish it up just as it is.  Yum!

You can't see the honey in the container. But you can taste it. It's that little bit of extra sweetness that brings the peanut butter to "treat" level.

That "honey" is the same thing you will find in a workplace culture that has the undeniable, indefinable feeling of "this is a great place to work." Where does that culture come from?

Taking care of your employees.

Your people are your teammates. One organization I know refers to their folks as team members more than as employees. That language elevates the dignity of every position, whatever the title they hold.

It may seem to be common sense that you should take care of your teammates, but it's amazing how many companies lose sight of common sense, particularly the larger they get. It becomes more about policies, procedures, rules, standards, etc. I'm all for fairness, for consistency, for smart business practices. But above that, these are people we work with.

Do you know anything about their personal life? You don't have to know their life story, but are you aware of any dimension beyond their work.

Do you know of a hobby or talent or passion that is lying untapped? Can you work it out so they can shine with that skill in some task in your workplace?

Are they distracted by a personal problem?

When is their birthday? The anniversary of their hire date?

Have you ever said "thank you" sincerely? (Not just the typical "thanks" at the end of every email.)

Do you go out to lunch with a variety of co-workers rather than the same group of peers?

Do you gossip or complain rather than uplift people to others?

Do you ever initiate casual conversation to build relationships rather than just talk about work projects? (For conversation starters, follow me on Twitter. Every day at 2:30EST I provide info about what unique holiday it is and it can prompt interesting discussions with your coworkers.)

If the peanut butter is your organization, the honey are these extra but invaluable things that you do to be sensitive to the feelings of those around you. Believe me, you will get far more cooperation by adding a little sincere honey to your surroundings by being thoughtful rather than being demanding, pushy, and overly direct. Maybe, in part, that's where the saying "You catch more flies with honey..." came from.

Application: What one suggestion above can you begin to implement to build better relationships with your coworkers?