A RETURN ON INVESTMENT for EMOTIONAL ECONOMICS

Analogue or digital?

It was the Ice Breaker for the meeting. Fifteen or twenty of us had come together for the morning from across Dorset and Hampshire. Drinking coffee together in the room were owners of small thriving businesses, flying in the face of stories of recessionary gloom; an executive Head Hunter finding it harder than ever to track down the “right” people; a public sector HR team working to overcome communication barriers for the digital age under 35’s and the analogue over 40’s; a booming private corporate manufacturer seeking ways to up skill the front line team to keep up with the pace of expansion; the MD of a printing company talking of paradigm shift, of re-inventing his business and, wistfully, of skills obsolescence. Our Ice Breaker question was to identify the key business challenge facing each of us.

The answer to our Ice Breaker question wasn’t very enlightening. Change was the key challenge for each of our businesses. The Ice Breaker question hadn’t identified anything we didn’t already know. It had got us to recognise that we had a common challenge though and whetted our appetites to understand it and share insights. It was time to refresh our coffee cups, seek out the last of the chocolate digestives from under the camouflaging layer of ginger nuts and to sit down in groups to get behind the truism.

Most in the room had recognised the opportunities brought by changing business conditions: the thriving small businesses capitalising on niche demand, the expanding corporate growing its bottom line through raw efficiency and new technology, the public sector team working on the language and means of communication for the workplace. Strategies were in place or being quickly put into place. This was familiar territory. The Head Hunter and the Printer moved our discussion on in the direction of people and skills. Ambiguity was the new business norm said the Head Hunter, to nods from around the table, and that required a different type of Leader. “Hard won skills developed over years can become obsolete overnight” added the printer “at the front line and in management.”

The Head Hunter and the Printer had got us there. Our challenge as Leaders was to engage our businesses, the whole of our businesses, with delivering change. The strategy was just a vehicle for the journey. The journey would be long and arduous. We would need teams of drivers, navigators and mechanics to complete it. Those were our business teams. We would need fuel too. Motivation and emotional investment by our business teams would be the fuel. We had to provide that motivation; to show our teams that it would be a sound investment for them; to spell out the Emotional Economics for our teams and our businesses.

Aromas and ideas mingle

The conference room was alive with animated discussion now. The buffet arrived unheeded. It sat, building a head of steam under silver domed covers, spirit burners keeping the polished tureens on the simmer. Ideas, aromas, flavours and debate simmered and mingled across the room. It wasn’t so much Change that was the challenge. Our challenge was to create an environment where Change was driven by our teams instead of happening to our teams. An environment where our teams invested in the business and the business invested in them. We understood the strategic needs of our businesses. Had we fully understood that our businesses were made up of teams of people? Did we understand the needs of the people making up our businesses?

That was a tricky question to answer. It needed some thought. There was a momentary dip in the roar of discussion across the room. The spicy aroma of the onion bhajis and fragrant curries drifted over from the buffet and tempted us towards the long linen draped table on the back wall. The decibel level in the room rose again: a clatter of plates and the occasional shout of laughter overlying the hum of conversation as we discussed, reflected and ate together.

Out came an i-phone: “Lets Google Gallup and see if there’s been a poll on what needs business teams have.” Glowing on the tablecloth in front of us was what people told Gallup got them out of bed in the morning, informed their decision of whether they opted in or out of the team, of whether they contributed to the business of which they were a part, businesses like ours’:

I know what is expected of me at work

I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right

At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day

In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work

My supervisor, or someone at work, cares about me as a person

There is someone at work who encourages my development

At work, my opinions seem to count

The mission or purpose of my organisation makes me feel my job is important

My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing good quality work

I have a best friend at work

In the last six months someone at work has talked to me about my progress

This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow

That’s what teams have told Gallup that they are looking for from their Leaders. The strategy is in there hidden behind “know what is expected.” Ninety per cent of the teams’ needs are Emotional and personal and nothing to do, directly, with business strategy. Discussion breaks out immediately:

“It’s our role to link the team’s needs with the business strategy”……” surely the team should be part of creating the strategy of the Business? “……..” if they were that would fulfil their emotional needs and the business’ needs at the same time.”…..

….“What happens if the teams’ emotional needs aren’t met – let’s Google that.” The answer winks back knowingly from the all-seeing black rectangular screen. Comparing companies with upper quartile team engagement against those in the lowest quartile Gallup says:

Customer satisfaction is 12% higher.

Productivity is 18% higher.

Profitability is 16% higher.

Safety Incidents are 49% lower.

Quality defects are 60% lower.

Absence is 37% lower.

Why reach higher? - Emotional Economics

….“What’s the monetary value?” The Dale Carnegie website values the opportunity at $350 billion for the US economy. Emotional Economics is worth $350 billion a year in one economy. Now we’re clear on the key challenge for us as Leaders: Its Emotional Economics.