Any CEO worth his bonus check would tell you that it's all about the people. But just try to prove it. Now, Maister has been able to show a real, causal relationship between employee satisfaction, the role of the manager, and pure, unadulterated profit. It's the one that's missing. Not surprisingly, the most direct relationship to profits was determined by a series of questions dealing with quality and client relationships.
Happy clients pay more and do more business.
There is a direct causal path. So even if you understand that serving clients well is the key to money, the key to serving clients well is getting better at energizing people. It's not just another item. To round out his research, Maister interviewed both the employees and heads of nine of the best-performing offices to see why they thought they did so well. The company that Maister surveyed is so convinced of the merits of his survey that it's now beginning to evaluate its managers using his criteria.