Teach your employees how to treat your business

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” was one of the first lessons I learned as a kid and I’ve carried it with me ever since. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how to apply that simple rule to areas other than common courtesy toward our neighbors.

Most recently, I’ve learned that this rule speaks volumes in the workplace. How often do you find that how you treat something at work is correlated with how you see it being treated by those around you? If you saw your boss show up late every day to work, would that make you re-think getting to work at least 15 minutes early? If you saw your boss leave things disorganized every day, would you start to think, “Well if he doesn’t care then should I care?”

Teach your employees how to treat your business. If we train our employees from the beginning and give them a standard of excellence to work toward, then we’re setting them up for success. That way you’re able to hold them accountable, but more importantly, be the example.

I believe that if you find the right way to motivate someone then you can get them to see the bigger picture in what they’re doing and how it’s a stepping stone toward something greater.

My mother always taught me that we treat people how to treat us, and I firmly believe that applies to our work as well.

This story was originally published June 1, 2017 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Teach your employees how to treat your business."