“Positive thinking is expecting, talking, believing, and visualizing what you want to achieve. It is seeing what you want, as an accomplished fact.” – Remez Sasson
A positive mind-set is not just a fad or ‘teaching’ of some management guru that you can choose to ignore. Cultivating and enhancing a positive mind-set does not only prove beneficial in everyday life but proves to be the cutting edge advantage in today’s highly competitive business world and ‘excruciating’ economy. A positive mind-set allows companies and its leaders to remain calm in the face of crisis situations and be flexible in the extremely volatile conditions that prevail. Such a mind-set and leadership style will trickle down to the ‘rungs’ and keep your employees also level-headed and composes. We have discussed in the past that a happy workforce (leaders and all) make for a more successful company since they would be able to serve customers more effectively and efficiently. If the overall work environment exudes a positive mind-set there would be higher productivity, better work performance and an overriding culture of continually enhancing customer service. It is a well-known fact that happy people are less stressed, better solution providers, can think more rationally, are more creative and possess higher energy levels – with such a formidable task force any company can be sure of gaining success.
It would seem that a common trait of successful people, especially in business is cultivating and keeping a positive mind-set. They have the tenacity to overcome stumbling blocks, work around crisis and failure and are able to remain confident that things will work out in their favour and be the best for all – including their customers. A positive mind-set in business and in work allows people to ignore negative influences or at least use them to forge ahead. Creating a positive mind-set in business is extremely vital to success especially since customers prefer to work with people who they like, people who seem more inclined to provide better service and also those who make them feel valued and special and a company that has a happy task force is able to deliver all these and more to the customers.
In every sphere of life, stress and pressures seem to be taking over and a business environment is probably the ‘epicentre’ for all. When people are stressed at work, their productivity drops, they are prone to absenteeism and there are strong under-currents of negativity which make each person vary of the people they work with. Under such circumstances, managers and superiors apply even more pressure to meet targets they tend to play favourites and other such behaviours that only encourage negative mind-sets and feelings of distrust and dissatisfaction. Do you believe that with such a mind-set people would be able to focus on work or be interested in providing the best kind of service to customers? As service levels and product quality drop, customers begin to express their ire – either by leaving or spreading negative views or both about the company leading to a sure decline in a company’s profits. A positive mind-set must not be overlooked and whether companies work towards it or not, it is as vital for business success as any other factor.
A positive mind-set must be developed internally to begin with – that is starting with the employees. Any astute business would know that a happy workforce translates to happy customers, which in turn means sustained growth and success for the company. Companies that ensure that they focus first on their employees will empower their employees and give them a number of choices and the discretion to choose. A company that encourages a positive mind-set will include their employees in the decision making, policy making and strategies of the company that in turn would be beneficial for both customers and the company. An involved workforce is not only happier but is also willing to share the responsibility of success for the company. They would be able to see the ‘big picture’ – the future that lies ahead and what it would bring each person in the company. Get your employees to come up with ideas and suggestions that can be implemented and give them due credit and rewards when their suggestions yield the benefits your company seeks. Keep them focused on the company’s brand, vision and mission and give them something to look forward to – better opportunities, more benefits, better increments and other such rewards that will foster a positive mind-set.
Build a company culture that is open and encourages creativity and innovation. Allow employees opportunities to think of and take ownership of ‘breakthrough’ ideas – you will not only have a motivated task force but also products and service that are more suited to customers. Employees would be customers too and some would also be handling your external customers – suggestions that emanate from such a mind-set would most certainly be beneficial and tailor made to suit your customers. Focused and personalized productions and attention is every customer’s unsaid need and expectation. You could also create a ‘specialized task force’ from your employees belonging to different departments. Give them control and empowerment to solicit ideas from the rest of the employees. When employees see their ideas taking shape, it provides a sense of satisfaction and value and people are more likely to want contribute consistently to a positive work environment. The company’s leadership will be able to focus on the more strategic aspects of the business since other processes and daily operations would be ‘humming along harmoniously’. Presents quite a picture right?!
A happy workforce is also one that is allowed enough flexibility and knows that there is transparency in career progression policies and that they can speak their mind without fear of retribution. Companies that provide work timing flexibility, work from home options, study sabbaticals and other such ‘liberating’ policies would notice an increase in the happiness of its employees, thereby promoting a positive mind-set throughout the organization. There are fewer conflicts as each person is secure in their jobs and the need to ‘mind ones back’ is almost negligible. This is a tough call especially now given that companies are becoming more global and therefore have a more diverse and mixed workforce and integration of this diversity does take time. However, even though tough, it is not impossible and in fact creating a positive mind-set is essential to do if your company aims for sustained growth and success.
After ‘putting your house in order’, companies must focus on what customers expect to see in order to feel special and know that their needs and expectations are important. When reaching out to customers ensure that the first interaction and first impression of your company is so memorable and happy that they do not wish for any other choice but your company and its products. Make them feel welcome and valued at the start – but also remember that is a customer’s ‘journey’ with the company that counts too. Every touch point and every communication channel must be consistently welcoming and create a positive mind-set for the customers. First impressions and consistency are crucial to keeping a customer with your company for life and the more loyal customers you have, the higher will your profit margins be. Loyal customers are also very happy and profitable customers and are more than willing to provide the highest level of testimonials and more referrals for your company. What better publicity for a company than the positive word of mouth of existing customers!
As with employees, allow your customers flexibility too. Make it easier for them to do business with you, explore every opportunity to reduce the amount of effort they would need to exert to get the product or service they want. Keep all channels of communication open and respond to their queries or problems via the channel that they are most comfortable using – provide dedicated resources to man these channels such that responses are speedier and solutions more effective. To create a positive mind-set for your company, ensure that you consistently solicit customer feedback and implement whatever is feasible and ‘report’ back to the customer on the actions taken. Such behaviour encourages trust in customers and a feeling of partnering with the company and being instrumental in paving their own success.
We are not saying that stress can be eliminated especially from the work scenario, however, by encouraging a positive mind-set it is possible to do away with a lot of unnecessary worries and friction. A positive mind-set in the workforce will encourage them to develop better habits, be more kind to their co-workers, balance their work and personal lives and be more efficient in their jobs. When people feel like they are achieving something consistently they would be inclined to do even better and inspire others to achieve more and remain happy and positive.
