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The Meaningful Workplace – Workplace In Crisis
The workplace is in crisis. Workers are not engaged. Productivity is down. Morale is low. Many employees obviously don’t see the point of what they – or their employer – are doing. How can a business turn the tide of employee dissonance? How can it become fit for a future that’s bound to be more competitive, complex and commoditized? How can it connect with people who are no longer blindly accepting corporate propaganda? People who are more “we” than “me” focused? People who are more discerning about the ideas, products and brands they buy into, the businesses they...
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Part 1: The Meaningful Workplace – Series Overview
Introduction This blog series introduces the “meaningful workplace”, an idea which seeks to address many of the pain points businesses are feeling as they try to get their enterprises fit for the future. It will explain the notion of “meaningful” and what it means in the context of creating a meaningful workplace. This series will set out the advantages of building a purposeful, values-driven workplace with a meaningful culture that better balances the needs of both the employer and the employee. It will explore how businesses can reach out to their...
Read more >To Be Fit For The Future Professional Services Need To Leapfrog To Emotive Branding
Professional services like law firms would do well to move beyond the rudimentary basics of branding such as identities, symbols and colors, according to a recent blog post on Forbes.com. We couldn’t agree more. Like all businesses, professional firms face a challenging future with hyper-competition, commoditized knowledge and accelerating change all looming on the horizon. These firms clearly need to get fit for the future – and their preparedness plan needs to include a major tune-up for their brands. However, we believe professional firms need to also leapfrog over the...
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What Employers Can Learn From The Thriving Danes
Photo by @drmeaningful According to a recent Gallup Poll, Denmark once again has achieved the highest sense of well-being of any country in the world. In a world where typically only 21 percent of people consider themselves to be “thriving”, 72 percent of Danish people feel they are. Why is this? And what could employers learn from the nature of the world’s “happiest” people? A recent article in The Atlantic pinpointed several behavioral imperatives that contribute to the “thriving” Danish character: Do not tolerate abusive behavior...
Read more >An Unmissable Video for Anyone Looking to Engage Employees
We came across this 15-minute video of a talk by Gary Hamel in which he outlines his thoughts on the future of management: “You can’t build a company that’s fit for the future without building one that’s fit for human beings.” He pinpoints three challenges facing today’s organizations: accelerating change, hyper-competition and commoditized knowledge. Commoditized knowledge was the challenge that got our brain cells fired up, particulary when Mr Hamel posed this: “How do you build an organization where people are willing to bring their gifts of...
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TOMS Shoes: When Being Meaningful Becomes the Business You Are In
TOMS Shoes has built a strong business and huge following based on its altruistic approach to selling shoes: buy a pair from TOMS and TOMS gives a second pair to someone who really needs them. Now they’re taking this “one-for-one” philosophy used to build the image of the company and turning it into their business model. To us, this is far more than a “rebranding” exercise, it’s the transformation of TOMS into a business inspired by a noble ambition. It is emblematic of the next generation of business in which enterprises take on broad social...
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What Makes People Want to Work (or Not) for Your Brand?
Every brand faces two employee challenges: Recruiting the best people Engaging their employees Brands that have no clearly stated brand promise and no hint of a noble ambition lack the magnetic power to attract and engage people. Brands that register “neutral” (or worse) on the feelings dial lack the energy to motivate, align and inspire people. So, how do you bring magnetic energy to your brand’s recruitment and employee engagement activities? Before you start thinking of posters, campaigns, incentives, websites, films, activities and all the other expected tools, consider...
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Strong Brands Give Employees an Idea to Rally Around
How to give employees something to believe in Take a moment to think about the employees working for your brand right now: They are in elevators, at desks, in conference rooms, in home offices, on the phone. They are in cars, on planes, in taxis, on a teleconference. They are closing deals, answering questions, presenting ideas, pitching prospects, processing orders, producing goods, answering phones, inventing products, serving customers, designing packaging, building factories, budgeting projects, balancing the books, convincing investors, meeting community leaders, hiring...
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Johnson & Johnson Meaningfully Supports Nursing
This spot from J&J demonstrates how a softly, softly approach to communications can be more effective than the anthem style advertising we so often see. The ad supports a meaningful J&J initiative called “The Campaign for Nursing’s Future” which seeks to draw people to the nursing vocation through information, inspiration and scholarships. Spotted...
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The World is Going Digital, People Remain Analog
We came across an interesting observation about the world we in which we live: “People are analog: As much as the world is going digital, people remain analog. We have emotion and we make decisions that are not entirely rational. We care about how we are perceived, we love our turf and we fear uncertainty. Unless one can understand the human needs and concerns when one is looking to deliver change it can get very difficult.” Do you understand the human needs and concerns that are bubbling up to the surface in this “digital age”? Do you recognize that decision making...
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Need to meaningfully engage employees?
It is not easy to meaningfully engage employees. A study of some 90,000 employees worldwide shows that 71% of employees are, at best, only moderately engaged at work. The report is interesting because it also points out that “…engagement has little to do with employee programs, per se.” Rather, engagement is rooted in the “interpersonal” or “relationship” elements of the work experience. As such, employees really care about… What kind of leaders do I have and what is my leadership’s focus and commitment? What this company stand for? What...
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Step 6 For Being Meaningful in 2011 – Evolve
What it means holistically: Acknowledge you’re going to change one way or another and opt for a positive evolution of your attitudes, manners and behavior. Move beyond rationalization and incorporate the emotional. Move from just being to being meaningful. What it means to brand-owners: The decision to pursue meaning as the driving force of your business is quite revolutionary. However, the process from that moment on is truly evolutionary. Meaning evolves from what is already true, already believed and already felt. The pursuit of meaning consolidates what’s already there in the...
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Step 5 For Being Meaningful In 2011 – Be True
What it means holistically: Be scrupulous, honest and truehearted. Behave reliably. Be dependable, reliable, unswerving. Be worthy. Stay fast and firm to what your believe. Be loyal to people, ideals and beliefs. What it means to brand-owners: Define the true and honest meaning behind your business. Bring that meaning to life. Help everyone understand it. Make it something people want to be partners in. Give it a personality. Make it likable, lovable and sharable. Make it natural. Make it a habit. Live it. Breathe it. Honor it. Cherish it. Celebrate it. Don’t make it a...
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