Growing An Organization of Givers

Growing An Organization of Givers

by Philip Gajewski, Team Leader

In the world of business, and in any office setting, a multitude of personalities exist among employees. But there are 3 fundamental styles of personal interaction that require particular focus: Takers, Matchers and Givers. [The latter of the 3 being most beneficial in the author’s opinion.]
 

In brief:

Takers – This type of personality has a unique signature in that they like to take more than they give and often tilt reciprocity in there own favor.
 

Matchers – With a belief in tit-for- tat fairness, this personality type strives to preserve an equal balance of giving and getting.

Givers – This personality type uses a different cost-benefit analysis, where they may help when the benefits to others exceeds personal cost.

So the question remains, which employee style is more effective and produces higher success rates?
Unfortunately, the Givers tend to get a bad rep and a large amount fall into the bottom denominator of the ladder across a range of multiple occupations. In sales, the lowest revenue accrued is from the most generous sales people. Matchers and Takers dominate the middle range, where Takers occupy less of the low performers.
 

So why develop a team of Givers? Though the Givers may dominate the low ladder of success, they also compile a compelling majority of upper echelon positions as well. 

Givers dominate the bottom and the top of the success ladder, across occupations. If you examine the link between reciprocity styles and success the Givers are more likely to become champs- not only chumps.  - Adam Grant

Givers make their organizations better. They consistently generate higher profits and increase
customer satisfaction while lowering operating expenses and employee retention. Takers tend to rise
quickly but also fall quickly in most jobs. When Takers win it’s often someone else who loses. But it is quite the opposite for Givers. In fact, a distinctive attribute to a Givers’ success is the occurrence of a cascading ripple effect - employees tend to be happy for their successes, thus enhancing the success of the people around them.
 

How does Iris Create an organization of givers?

Protecting Givers is important; they can often be subjected to more work due to their limitless generosity and dedication. Adam Rifkin uses a theory called “the 5 minute favor.” At Iris we call them (Positive affirmations). What are those, you ask? Anecdotes of anonymous, kind complements we read aloud for our team as we begin our day. Rifkin states, “you don’t have to be Mother Theresa to be a giver, you just have to find a small ways to add large value to other peoples lives.”
 

Handing out compliments and accolades can be rewarding, but maintaining a corporate culture that consistently generates healthy competition (as needed in sales) and an all-for- one mentality can prove challenging. By incorporating a never-ending Student Mentality, you can normalize help-seeking which is critical in order to influence team members to act like givers. 70-90% of all giving within an organization starts with a request. At Iris we have leaders who create this collaborative environment and mentor throughout the organization both vertically and horizontally.

Training future business leaders and company owners is a fundamental component to the Iris business model. It starts with getting the right people on the bus…and hiring and promoting people from within based on black and white standards. In addition to hiring people based on company criteria, every candidate considered resembles a future owner of Iris or one of its affiliated Managerial partners. To help identify Givers that hold these leadership skills, a great question to ask is who are the names of four people whose careers you have fundamentally improved?

 
Any President, Owner or CEO of a company is the Captain of his vessel and the Shepard to a herd – and all aspire for success. Change the way you define success. Instead of winning a competition, success can be defined as improving contributions.

The giving nature at Iris has been plenteous and is palpable upon entering the office each and every day. It is our mission to create a culture that will sustain success and deliver a copious and expansive future in the marketing and advertising industry, and encourage other companies to incorporate these
strategies into your own work place.

For a more in depth look into this subject check out this TEDTalk with Adam Grant: