Corporate America runs on the strength of its employees

Corporate America? Or is it Corporate America, Corporate UK, Corporate Canada, Corporate Russia, Corporate Japan? Corporate Anywhere? Corporate Everywhere? Corporate, Corporate, Corporate. Large or small. It doesn't matter.

To the average employee, and sometimes even the average administrator, the mere utterance of the word "corporate" or "boss" can send spasms of nerve disorder through their bodies.

It can even be the name of your boss. "Hey, Frank, Richard wants to see you." In that person's world, the name "Richard" might as well be Leviathan. In fact, the statement "Richard wants to see you" comes across like an invitation to Hannibal Lector's cell for a sandwich.

Depending on what the corporation is and who its leaders are, your body becomes a global reversal of climatic change as a new Ice Age begins ... in your belly; but your mouth is drained off all moisture like the deserts of Morocco. This large, formless but icy cold glacier spreads throughout your intestinal track, freezing your countenance and stiffening all mobility, while your esophagus and mouth are deprived of all that is wet.

Sometime in our lives, we have all have experienced those moments. Right? Right?! Of course.

But who really wants to work in that climate? I don't think it's actually cast in granite anywhere that creating an enjoyable work environment was a sling shot against the gods; or that "enjoying" your job was punishable by holding a bare wire between your teeth while standing barefoot in a puddle of water.

But it's really not "Corporate America" or "Corporate Anything" that makes employees' faces either radiate or dissolve at the mention of corporate entities; nor is it the corporation itself. It IS, however, the people who lead those corporations.

Last week, one of the Nevada Appeal's sales executives (Diane Kneeland) and I were invited to an awards luncheon at Thunder Canyon Golf & Country Club, hosted by Coldwell-Banker/Best Sellers. The morning session, prior to the luncheon, was devoted strictly to employee awards. The luncheon itself was dedicated to the realtor's special program, Gifts From The Heart - a program designed to give something back to the non-profit organizations for their contributions to the community. Select non-profit organizations received donations. And, to our surprise, the Nevada Appeal received an honor - an Award of Excellence certificate. Nice touch.

Sure, Coldwell-Banker/Best Sellers is an important advertiser and customer of ours. But is that the reason I mention them in this column? No. So, take that and try again.

No, the reason I mention Coldwell-Banker/Best Sellers is because of the way Jenny Lopiccolo, who is broker and owner of the Carson City firm, treats her employees and recognizes communal importance without waving her hands for attention.

During the luncheon, all I saw were smiling faces from her employees, like a family get-together. No, I take that back. Relatives don't stay smiling THAT much during a get-together. What I DID see were proud winners of top sales awards from earlier that morning.

Not one person looked like they preferred to be elsewhere; no signs of the "I can't believe I have to sit through this" on faces; just people who enjoy what they do, and respect the person who they do it for. And their success is there. Consistently too. In fact, one of Jenny's employees who is a real pro, said to me after the luncheon, "Do you realize what she has done for us?" Wow. He had nothing to gain from what he said. He was saying it to me, not her. He was genuine and forthright.

Maybe there are other businesses in Carson City who carry a corporate name but treat their employees with family-like care. But they haven't invited me to their awards luncheons, so I wouldn't know, now would I? Besides, this is my column anyway. During my professional years, I have seen many companies - both large and small - treat their people either with compassion or deplorable impertinence. The size of the business doesn't matter. The name of the business or corporation doesn't either.

It's not the name of a business or corporation that makes employees either thrive or despond; enjoy or detest; praise or despise. It is what's in the person in charge, the person who holds the title of "leader," the person who either understands or stands under.

No need to glamorize it, treating employees with a balance of business awareness and compassion is not a sin. It is a virtue - a virtue that large corporations and even smaller corporation-minded wannabes should consider. Wall Street won't mind. The results will be there, and without scarred, damaged brains and mangled bodies left in the wake.

When you treat your employees with respect while still running a business, the results will follow, usually regardless of what the economy dictates. The internal climate of a employer is stronger than any thermostat control and mightier than any economic condition.

n John DiMambro is publisher of the Nevada Appeal. Write to him at jdimambro@nevadaappeal.com.