Helen Green

Living Leadership

In 1st April 2016 the new National Living Wage comes into force in the UK. In the lead up to its inception interested parties and observers have provided a range of opinions on how this initiative is going to play out.

The Resolution Foundation has even provided a handy guide to the winners and losers with just 3% of employees in the City of London set to receive a pay rise whilst apparently the big winners will be the 35% of people working in Torridge in Devon who will see their pay packets increase.

Amidst all the commentaries one in particular caught our attention. Arising from a discussion about productivity, one commentator gave the opinion that now employees are being paid more, employers will have a greater incentive to train them in order to raise productivity levels. Whilst increasing training, boosting the skill sets of your people is always a good idea, to do so simply because you want to receive a greater return on your outlay returns employees to the status of no more or less than cost centres.

The best leaders know and understand that people are the greatest asset that an organisation can have. Providing access to training, empowering people, constantly challenging them to do more and giving them the tools they need in order for them to live up to their potential is the mark of a true leader. It doesn’t matter what salary someone is on or whether they are a new and very junior employee or have been with the organisation for decades; what matters is that their value and their abilities and their contribution are rewarded with good leadership.