PluralSight Has it Right

PluralSight, a privately held education company that offers online video training courses for software developers, IT administrators, and creative professionals, is a model for Employee Engagement.  The company has two rules for employees: be kind, courteous and respectful; and always do what’s in the company’s and customer’s best interests.  That’s it.

While PluralSight’s take on how to manage people may seem blindly optimistic, inc.com reports that employees say positive energy “permeates the entire company.”  And that energy is fueling the bottom line.  The company has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies, ranking as the #9 Top Education company and the #19 Top Utah company.  Not too shabby.

PluralSight affirms my belief that engaging your employees doesn’t have to be difficult.  Hire people whose values are aligned with your values, treat employees like adults, and give them a runway to do what’s in the company’s and customer’s best interests.  Senior leaders, if you want employees to trust you (a key component to employee engagement), you have to trust them.

• Limit the number of policies and procedures in your company.
• Develop supervisors who micro-manage and if they don’t change, ship them out.
• Coach vs. Command. No one likes to be told what to do.

Take a page from PluralSight’s book, senior leaders and supervisors, and your culture will begin changing for the better today.  There’s ease and beauty in simplicity.