How willing is your organization to put profits over people?

Our reader poll today asks: How willing is your organization to put profits over people?

• Extremely: Profit comes first, no matter the cost 11.68%
• Very: Money is almost always the first consideration 33.95%
• Somewhat: We strike a good balance between people and profit 29.20%
• Not very: We value our people pretty highly 16.78%
• Not at all: People truly do come first in our organization 8.39%

People first… barely. While the poll results are unsurprising, they’re disappointing. 44% of you point out that it’s profit above people in your organization. For those whose organizations truly put people first, bravo. Your job as a leader is to continue to build on that culture and behave in ways that strengthen it. For those of you working in profit-first organizations, ask yourself the question – how much does it cost to replace an employee? What’s the cost of low morale and low productivity? Because this is the price you’ll pay by continuing to put profit first. An engaged workforce is a productive workforce. That engagement means putting people above profit but the return on that decision is far higher than focusing on short-term financial metrics. Challenge yourself today to find one instance of putting people over profit and build on that momentum tomorrow.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.