Monday 23 September 2013

BS Free workplaces - a personal manifesto by Ian Berry

Following a number of keynote/plenary session presentations I have given at conferences recently I have also been on panels with fellow speakers. The audiences have been very diverse and yet a common question that has been asked in all manner of ways is “With all the focus on employee engagement why is actually engaging employees still a challenge for most organisations?” 

I have given seven answers to the question which are contained in a special report. If you would like a copy please email ian@changingwhatsnormal.com In addition as a result of reflection on my own and other people’s answers my personal manifesto has evolved.

BS Free workplaces - a personal manifesto by Ian Berry

The greatest nonsense, the biggest load of codswallop, the BS that is permeating most workplaces is seeing and treating humans as numbers, overheads, expenses, resources, assets, or capital. 

My reason for being is to change this because we are none of these things. We are, every single one of us, a one-of-a-kind human being. When we are treated as such we respond in remarkable ways.

Creating workplaces free of BS is often hard, emotionally draining, exhausting work. We encounter self-serving, greedy and as yet unenlightened folk who think life is all about them. We run into fear, mediocrity and massive resistance.

For these reasons I can’t say I have loved every minute of my work since I began my quest in 1991. What I do love, with an abiding passion, is the results. I particularly love the defining moments I observe every week, often unexpected, usually a surprise to the person, when their light goes on and someone is finally home.

There is nothing on earth as magnificent as a human being fully alive. 

When we remove BS, people come alive.

In workplaces where people have come alive:
People feel valued, fulfilled, and loved.
Values are lived.
Value as perceived by others is delivered to all stakeholders including our planet.
Numbers are seen for what they are, results, not reasons.

Every business should make a profit. There is nothing evil about money. How we make it and what we do with it is what matters. Profit is not a reason though for being in business, rather a result of being good at business. Our reason for being in business is about how we have personally chosen to serve humanity.

The trouble with BS about people is that we have become used to counting the wrong things. Millions of people feeling that they don’t count is the sad consequence. 

At the heart of all the world’s troubles is seeing people as things, as means to an end, rather than beings who can take us far beyond our wildest dreams.

I am in the business of increasing profits without hurting people or our planet. Will you join me? 

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

To get your copy of the special report 7 fool-proof actions that guarantee employee engagement please email me ian@changingwhatsnormal.com

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