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Wake up and smell the ROI, or else

Dr. Goulston's work with CEOs has given him insight into their thought processes. If you aren't thinking about your relation to the bottom line, they are.
By Mark Goulston, M.D.
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This is a photo of Mark Goulston, M.D.
Mark Goulston, M.D.

This will be a departure from many of my blogs at least with regard to tone. In those, I have often been empathic and compassionate towards workers struggling to survive the daunting challenges of automation, AI and technology and to their families who try to support them.

In this one, I am not intending to be insensitive as in intentionally wanting to hurt or kick anyone when they’re down, but I may come off as not sensitive as in giving you some “tough love” in the service of a reality check.

It’s the same POV of many CEOs who are shrinking their human workforce as AI and technology become more efficient, less error-prone, can work 24/7 and won’t sue you. Those CEOs are not insensitive to their workforce being displaced, they are just not sensitive.

What they are sensitive to is the pressure to produce an increased return on investment (ROI) to satisfy shareholders and investors. What further insulates them from the angst of their people are HR departments and COOs who are between a rock and a hard place in that they are focused on what’s in the best interest of the company even if it’s at the expense of the employees.

What this means is that if you are a worker, displaced worker or a family member of either, don’t look for compassion from companies or try to reach them through your pain or to lay a guilt trip on them. It just won’t work.

You may cry out, “That’s not fair!” “I’m hurting!” “I’m scared!”

Sorry, all of that will just land on deaf ears.

Or an HR representative will talk sympathetically with you, but you need to realize that although that person has the responsibility to provide you with some modicum of compassion, they have little authority to do much else if you’re wanting something that hurts ROI.

So what should you do?

Realize that although you have some control over what and how you say something, you have little control over how it’s heard.

What you want to do is get into the listening of the people who make decisions over your career, job or lack thereof. If you listen for what’s on a CEOs mind which then filters down to everyone below him or her, it’s ROI.

The more any or everything you do can be tied to the ROI, the easier your boss can see your value and communicate it upstream all the way up through senior managers, vice presidents, the COO and eventually the CEO.

It all reminds me of what one of my late mentors, Ward Wieman, a key management consultant for Peat Marwick (predecessor to KPMG) used to tell me, “The CEO cares about ROI and everyone else cares about looking good to the CEO.”

What looks best to CEOs even if you’re an internal person is business development. Wherever you are in your career, work on your interpersonal skills especially the ones that will cause others to be increasingly interested in your company. A great resource for that is Keith Ferrazzi’s classic book, Never Eat Alone. And when you then get with people using that resource my book, Just Listen, will help you to open people up and get through to them.

Join the Conversation: What are the ways you can communicate your value through the chain of command and become an indispensable member of the workforce? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Dr. Mark Goulston is an award-winning business psychiatrist, a consultant for Fortune 500 companies and the best-selling author of seven books. His latest book, Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with Irrational and Irresponsible People in your Life can be found on Amazon. Catch up on Dr. Goulston’s previous articles here.

Connect with Dr. Goulston through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. His books are available on Amazon. Check out his videos on YouTube or take advantage of free resources available at www.markgoulston.com

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.

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