It doesn’t matter where they come from, people everywhere want to know that who they are 和 what they do matter. We at Barry-Wehmiller have seen this in the companies we acquire throughout the world – stories we’ve shared on this blog about our team members’ experiences in 法国 和 意大利.
,最近, we met an industry leader from Russia who is working to make sure the people in his company feel they are cared for 和 know they are valued.
The Russian labor force seems more challenged than most. A recent Gallup report shows that “more than 80% of the country’s employees are less than fully engaged at work; they lack an emotional connection to their workplaces 和 are not enthusiastic about their jobs.
“进一步,” the report continues, “almost one-fifth of all Russian workers are actively disengaged, meaning they harbor negative feelings about their jobs that prevent them from creating value for their businesses. Instead, they often do more harm than good 和 hinder Russia’s overall economic performance.”
Some of Gallup’s recommendations to solve these issues include improving the quality of “management 和 leadership” 和 promoting “a culture of trust 和 integrity.”
听起来很熟悉.
SFT组 is the number-one company in Russia in three industries: corrugating, paper production from recycled paper 和 waste-paper collection. Over the last 11 years, it has gone from a $20 million company in a single industry to a $300 million vertically integrated company, the first in the pulp 和 paper industry in Russia.
But SFT组 首席执行官 Stepan Khomyakov knows his company can be more than just a market leader. He also wants his company to lead the way in treating the 2,000 lives under his care with Truly Human 领导.
Stepan first visited Barry-Wehmiller facilities in Baltimore 和 Phillips, 威斯康辛州, a year ago as a customer of our BW Papersystems 部门. He was immediately struck by the demeanor of our people, saying he could tell by their faces that they were more fulfilled.
When he asked about this, one of the things Stepan was told was that it was because they felt listened to, they were part of the decision-making process. Stepan was also struck when a team member told him our company had helped train him as a leader.
“It’s not usual in other companies,” Stepan said of the experience. “太神奇了。.”
Upon returning to Moscow, where SFT组 is based, Stepan began researching our company to learn about our culture, but he was also amazed by our financial performance – showing that valuing people can work in harmony with value creation. 他买了我的书， Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, 和 shared it with those on his leadership team who can read 英语.
“It was a real story with real steps to take,” Stepan said of the book. “It’s not so academic. It’s not theoretical. These are real ideas. But, it’s not one step or one idea; it’s the philosophy of the entire company.”
A few weeks ago, Stepan came to St. 路易, 参加课程 with the BW 领导 Institute (now 查普曼 & Co. 领导 Institute, 点击这里阅读更多) to learn more about how we transformed the culture at Barry-Wehmiller. He left inspired to instill Truly Human 领导 in his company.
“The most important idea,” Stepan said, “was thinking of people as someone’s precious child. If we think about [the people who work in our companies] as our children, we make another decision; we can work with them in another way with more patience.”
When your number-one priority is people, you’ll start to see a lot of things fall into place, not just productivity 和 performance. Stepan 和 SFT组 could be part of a Truly Human 领导 revolution in Russia. Imagine the possibilities!