Richard Branson has been in town this week and I was interested to learn his insights into the importance he places on the people that work for the Virgin brand. Q: Virgin has such a strong brand – what role do your people play in this?
“Our people need to be 100% proud of where they work, to believe what they do every day. He or she is must be given the tools to do the job.”
“As a leader I have to be a good listener, good salaries are pointless if people are not being listened to. I always take a few notes as I travel around and meet people because I promise to address whatever issues the person mentioned and I must follow through – even if I’m at a party I have a notebook with me… people often tell you most at those sort of occasions.”
“I hang out with my people when I travel – party with them, apart from the fact that I like it (grins)… you have to be available to your people.”
“When I look at a business, I look at the managers and ask ‘do they genuinely like people?’ You are not going to destroy a business with a manager who likes people. But you can quickly ruin one if you put the wrong person in place… if they just don’t like being with people.”
Nice to have it reinforced by a person a man who has created such an iconic network of businesses all united by the Virgin brand. He is very quick to say that he is a great delegator – so clearly the people he puts around him are the key to the success. He has the vision – they do the execution.
Naomi Simson is considered one of Australia’s ‘Best Bosses’. She is an employee engagement advocate and practices what she preaches in her own business. RedBalloon has been named as one of only six Hewitt Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand for 2009 and awarded an engagement scorecard of over 90% two years in a row – the average in Australian businesses is 55%. RedBalloon has also been nominated by BRW as being in the top 10 Best Places to Work in Australia behind the likes of Google. One of Australia’s outstanding female entrepreneurs, Naomi regularly entertains as a passionate speaker inspiring people on employer branding, engagement and reward and recognition. Naomi writes a blogand is a published author – and has received many accolades and awards for the business she founded – RedBalloon.com.au.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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