Now it’s time for a little straight talk. I am asking you to change the status quo, which is always a challenge. Implementing the Twelve Great Workplace Essential Strategies as outlined in the book is hard work. Taking action is not going to be as easy as doing nothing, and taking action will demand that you overcome the strong temptation of continuing to run your organization in the way that is most familiar to you.

We may convince ourselves that following the path of least resistance in our workplace will at least get us something close to the results we have gotten used to receiving, or that launching a revolution in the workplace is something optional, something we can do later on, if we feel like it, if things calm down and we aren’t quite as busy. The truth, however, is more sobering and less accommodating.

The truth is that we have no choice. Complacency in the coming years will lead to a casual lapse of failure. Continuing to do what is familiar will cost us time, resources, people and most important, CUSTOMERS that we simply cannot afford to lose in the current environment.

LAUNCHING A GREAT WORKPLACE REVOLUTION IS A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE

There are three big reasons that implementing the Twelve Great Workplace Essential Strategies is not something you can put off until tomorrow. These aren’t the only reasons, of course, but they are the ones that I predict you’ll find hardest to forget.Your most creative employees are going to notice if you don’t launch a revolution. You will train them, get them ready for great things, and then watch as they walk out the door as they go do those great things elsewhere.

Your competition is going to notice if you don’t launch a revolution. These may be competitors you know about, or they may be operating in some far-flung location you’ve never heard of. Regardless, they will take advantage, directly or indirectly, of the talent leaving your organization, and will create (or adapt) products and services that cut into your market making it harder for you to stay in business.

Your customers are going to notice if you don’t launch a revolution. One of the things you will notice in the case studies I share with you here is a simple, predictable, and power formula:
CUSTOMERS ESTABLISH LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS
WITH COMPANIES WHOSE EMPLOYEES HAVE
LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO THE MISSION.

The converse however is also true: Companies whose most creative employees DO NOT have an enduring commitment to the organization will have a harder time holding on to customers. “The customer is not number one,” in the words of Shep Hyken, author of The Amazement Revolution, the employee must be number one! If you implement this counter intuitive principle, only then will your customers receive superior service delivered by your empowered employees.

If any one of these reasons cause you to pause – and all three should – then you are ready to make the commitment to take action, today, to implement the Twelve Great Essential Workplace Strategies.