Book Summary Preview : Practice What You Preach

The Big Idea
A study conducted by the author shows that the most financially successful operations have common characteristics. The relationship between these characteristics and financial success is not trivial.

Introduction
The study shows that these characteristics cause a demonstrable, measurable improvement in the financial performance of the studied offices. These characteristics are:

• Management’s behavior is perceived to be consistent with management’s claimed philosophy and values.
• Managers serve the interests of the groups they manage, not just their individual interests.
• Managers’ subordinates feel that their individual potentials are nurtured, allowed to flourish, to reach optimal realization.
• There exists a high degree of loyalty and commitment among subordinates, inspired by their individual managers.
• Compensation systems are fair and well implemented.
• People quality is not compromised. Standards are not sacrificed during hiring.

The Survey
For each of the offices in the study, four measures of financial performance were employed:

• Two-year percentage growth in revenues
• Two-year percentage growth in profit
• Profit margin
• Profit per employee

The employee survey instrument was comprised of 74 questions that were later grouped into 9 factors to facilitate analysis. These 9 factors were:

• Quality and client relationships
• Training and development
• Coaching
• Commitment, enthusiasm, and respect
• High standards
• Long-term orientation
• Empowerment
• Fair compensation
• Employee satisfaction