People First, Always.™

By Grant Ian Gamble | July 19, 2020

Grant Ian Gamble is a business growth consultant, author and keynote speaker. He works in a broad array of industries helping companies build teams, navigate change and drive growth.

The US Air Force has a mantra:

“Mission First, People Always.”

Having been in the Royal Australian Navy, I understand the paradoxical nature of this statement. The armed forces of any nation are constantly preparing young men and women to be sent into grave danger to achieve a mission.

There’s an inherent conflict in achieving a dangerous mission and taking care of your people at the same time.

I believe this mantra reflects the inescapable tension that emerges for leaders in business as they chart a course for their company.

The mission of the company is ultimately profitability, and yet at times decisions seem to place people and profit at odds. 

Profit and people are of course indelibly connected, but in building and growing companies over many years, I have learned that there’s a far greater chance of achieving your long term financial goals when you put your people first.

And so a long time ago, the mantra for me has become:

“People First, Always.”

In the fluid job market we work in today, it’s an inescapable truth that finding talent is tough and keeping talent can be even tougher.

What I’ve learned is that when your people know you’re putting them first, the loyalty and performance from each individual on your team increases exponentially. 

People that feel respected and acknowledged are typically happier, and studies show that people who are happier at work were 12% more productive than those that were unhappy.

Companies like Google have seen employee satisfaction rise by 37% when they’ve invested in employee support to raise satisfaction levels¹.

Putting your people first doesn’t simply mean giving them perks or addressing their immediate concerns.

Putting people first means taking a real interest in your team members, in who they are, what their individual wants and needs are, and not just what they are capable of achieving.

Talented, hard-working professionals are attracted to companies where they feel the leadership has built a culture of trust and mutual respect.

Where they know that the leaders of that organization truly care about them as an individual. Where the leaders are creating an environment where they can explore their potential and where excellent failures are rewarded.

I believe one of the critical elements of putting people first is job crafting.

Job crafting is the art and science around knowing a person’s strengths and their potential to contribute in their own unique way. This involves crafting their position description around their competencies and ensuring alignment of their skills and interests. This philosophy obviously starts with finding the person who is most suited to the position, but it also demands a degree of creativity and nuance to ensure the needs of the company and the team member are met.

When a person’s gifts, skills, and interests are aligned with their role, they come to see their work as more than a job; it becomes their calling. They move into a state of flow.

This is a state where the individual’s skills and strengths are optimized and they are fully immersed in the activity, feeling energized and focused.

If through your leadership, team members are more engaged, happier, and ideally in a state of flow, it is inevitable that tenure will increase.

I describe this as a state of Affinity and if your company has Affinity, your business will be more competitive, and its potential for growth will be magnified.

Engaged and motivated team members work well together and they rarely leave the organization that has helped guide them into that optimal state of performance. When their goals are tied to your company’s goals, this alignment of focus is transformational.

In the highly contested talent acquisition space, putting people first will help you attract and retain strong team members and ensure optimal long term outcomes for you and your company. 

If you want to explore these concepts in further detail, check out my new book, “The Affinity Principle.”

1 Research from the University of Warwick, Professor Oswald