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Over the past decade, many corporate cultures have devalued much of its employee base by overworking them, underpaying them and not promoting a spirit that values human capital.  The lifeline of any business is its employees.  Companies often fall into the trap of deriving value by overworking employees while underpaying them but this only results in pennies.  Companies that build a culture that honors and rewards employees can add significant dollars to the bottom line. How do you do this? 

• The human spirit thrives on being part of a community or team.  Make sure that you create opportunities for your employees to collaborate in order to achieve shared objectives rather than work in isolation.
• Treat employees how you would like them to treat your customers.  Culture is contagious.  If you approach your employees with a certain level of kindness and patience, they will, in turn, uphold these virtues when serving your customer base.
• Think carefully about how you respond to employees who have made mistakes.  Mistakes can be part of the growing process, particularly for small companies.  If employees feel that they are being harshly reprimanded, they will think twice before taking any risk in performing their job.

• Respect the fact the employees do have a life outside of their job.  Provide some flexibility for them to attend to things in their personal life whether it be taking care of children, aging parents or community service.  Acknowledging that their personal life is important will build employee loyalty and make them more productive while they are at work.