Will you choose profit or people? How the pandemic has caused us to rethink our priorities

The United States Of America has been taking U-turns on some decisions lately. First, it was the supply of raw materials required for the vaccine to India and now regarding the vaccine patent waivers. Though the end result really helped India, I couldn’t help but think of one aspect which really bothered me. Profits over people or people over profits?
The pandemic has taught us some really harsh lessons. Many were abandoned by their family as they couldn’t afford to source the required medicines or medical aid, it became clear who our friends were. The bottom line is that to end the pandemic, it is necessary for all people to be vaccinated. But there’s a catch. For all people to be vaccinated, it requires the production capability of pharma companies to be scaled up exponentially. This requires money and people who invest don’t do it for free, there’s either interest charged or a percentage in the profit earned. So if there’s no profit, no money will be invested. 
It’s definitely a competitive world, but when it comes to choosing between people and profits, what should we do?

 If profit comes first 
1. The short-term benefits might be good, but sustainability becomes a question as people tend to jump ship leading to high attrition. 
2. When profits have to be maximised, it automatically means giving no benefits to the people who are with you. Hence, wages are the only motivation and nothing else. 
3. The motivation levels of people associated with you will be almost non-existent, hence a sense of belonging to yourself or your organisation will be absent too. 
4. Due to the constant dissatisfaction and the feeling of being unappreciated, people tend to come to work for the heck of it rather than to excel, thereby leading to zero innovation. 
5. When an organisation has made what truly matters to them evident, people will be in constant fear of what will be cut next and hence, tend to be hopelessly unproductive. 

 people over profit
1. Lower initial benefits to the company but employees develop a sense of gratitude as they understand that they are put first! 
2. Employees are considered assets rather than liabilities, which in turn makes them develop a sense of belonging towards the organisation. 
3. All the people associated with you tend to push themselves to achieve excellence as they feel it in their gut to perform better. This not only makes them self-motivated, but also responsible stakeholders of the organisation. 
4. They not only innovate and work hard, but also ensure that they come to you only when required. This leads to better and efficient decision-making along with formulation of efficient strategies. 
5. Employees tend to stick on even if they’re offered more perks and benefits elsewhere as they develop loyalty. 
Yes, both sides have pros and cons but my reasoning is simple, if there are no people, what’s the use of profits and if there are no profits, how will the people be taken care of? Hence, my two cents would be to strike a balance, but by always putting people first. We need to exist to coexist. Stay safe, stay well people! Until next time.

Adarsh Benakappa Basavaraj
‘The Coach’