Living with, working with labor—not fighting it or ignoring it—should be an assumed obligation of the business executive. Success and profits can be gained more easily—and happily—with labor’s honest cooperation than without it.
The executive who understands and assumes his responsibilities takes every legitimate opportunity to demonstrate to his subordinates that he considers their work important and valuable—and that he respects them as workers and as individuals. And he takes a sincere interest in their well-being. He does not flatter, patronize or coddle them. He does, however, always manage to find time to comment on a particular job that has been especially well done or to acknowledge the value of a worker’s or an entire department’s contribution to the success of a project. In short, he shows by word and action that he and the company are aware of the workers’ existence and of the importance of their work. By so doing, he goes a very long way toward raising employee morale—and when morale rises, employee efficiency and production go up while such profit-devouring headaches as absenteeism and labor turnover go down.
* Source: How to Be Rich by J. Paul Getty