Reflection 01/14/10

I've been to Pikeplace Fish Market before, when I was 17, and I remember thinking how amazing it was that hundreds of people show up to this place everyday just to check out a place that sells fish. That the environment that the employees worked in was so fun, they loved their jobs and they got their work done while having fun and joking around and taking pictures with all the tourists. After seeing the video in class, I took away the idea that the environment was created on purpose. It didn't just happen. The fun with the productivity didn't just happen by accident or show up one day, that it was worked on and not just by the employees trying to make their day a little easier, but the management took the time to get the ball rolling on this revolutionary ideal.
The management at Pikeplace Fish Market may not have been trained on the concept of Human capital and they may have but either way they "got it". They understood; or rather, understand, their employees need to be trained well and then empowered to become better. How many companies do we see, or have we worked with that just think of the majority of their employees as just numbers? Or an expendable asset? Or even, think of their customers as just numbers? As income?
Employees are so important to our business, we need their talents, insight, and creativity to yes, bring in the money, but also to keep the company in business. Customers don't like going to businesses where they don't feel respected, or where the employees don't like their jobs and aren't afraid to show it. It's all tied together, and as HR managers we will need to make sure we are aware of this and that we use this information to the advantage of the company and the people that can come in to either help or frustrate the efforts of the company.