So much of what shows up as “people issues” in a company – are just a disguise for a lack of communication and can so easily be converted into serving and growing the business in a meaningful way. A lack of communication happens every time someone is not open and honest about how they are seeing reality (their truth).

This lack of communication is often a two-way street. From employer to employee, from employee to employer and between colleagues. The question is not whether there is a lack of communication in your organisation, the question is how much of a lack is there? To the extent of this lack, is the extent of your people issues. As human beings who are all on our own journey of self-awareness and becoming conscious of who we are, how we create our own reality and what we are capable of……it is inevitable that we perceive things the way we are and not how things actually are. This is why open and honest communication is really the only way to bridge these gaps in perception.

So as an employee, I no longer blame my boss, the company, my team etc for what is happening or not happening, but instead take full responsibility for the work experience that I am creating for myself. This means that where I want to create something new or different to what has been created in the past, I need to have a conversation with my boss, the company or my team in order to collectively create that. As an employer or boss, I no longer blame “the people” or my team for what is being achieved or not achieved, but instead take full responsibility for the environment I am creating for the team and people to perform in. This means that where I want to see different behaviour or outcomes than what I’ve seen in the past, I need to have a conversation with my team, the company, the person in order to connect and create this new reality together. This is the process of getting at the TRUTH for your company.

There is no such thing as a situation or problem that can not be solved by your team. It is simply the way you are thinking about it or looking at it – that is the problem. Until this changes, the status quo will persist.

Here are 7 common “people issues” a company experiences over time that I’ve converted into business opportunities:

	People issues	Business opportunity
1	Average or poor performance	Growth/improvement driven by employees, instead of managers
2	Mediocre service to clients	Leverage employee initiative and client feedback
3	Attitude problems	Increase productivity through alignment
4	Lack of ownership	Leaders to be more strategic
5	Conflict between people and teams	Spot problems quickly, innovate and adapt
6	Lack of engagement	Ideas, perspectives and solutions coming from everyone
7	High turnover	Create a brand people are proud to represent and passionate to grow

The key to converting your people issues into business opportunities, is to engage with your people in an open & honest way. It’s that simple! They already have the answers….you just haven’t asked the questions…..