Why are you in business? What is your contribution to the world? And what’s in it for you? For your employees? Tony Robbins talks about the six human needs, being significance, certainty, variety, love and connection, growth and contribution. Most businesses and individuals are driven by the first two, feeling significant and having certainty. This is what drives us to do well at school, get a good job and move up the corporate ladder. Moving up the ladder increases our feeling of being significant and important. Being good at what we do, so that we can move up the ladder, gives us financial and employment security, fulfilling our need for certainty.
However, while all six of these needs are necessary to be met for a fulfilling life, they are not all equal. It is my belief that a more rounded, fulfilling and happy life results from being driven by one or more of the latter three needs, love and connection, personal growth and making a contribution. One or more of the first three needs can then be met as a consequence rather than as a driver. For example, by starting a charitable foundation from a place of contribution, one can also achieve, as a consequence, a sense of significance by being seen as a leader in the community. Having such an approach in your business creates more of a giving and sharing culture, which makes your workplace a more pleasant place to work in and, therefore, more attractive to employees. As a consequence, your attraction and retention rates increase, you save money on recruitment and training, and employee productivity and company profitability are maximised.
Is your business driven by a need to make a contribution or are you simply chasing the dollars? Do you have a set of values that are known, understood and embraced by all employees, or are they languishing on a computer disk somewhere? Do you have a happy, vibrant workplace where people look forward to coming to work every day, or do people drag themselves in and grumble around the coffee machine? If your business drivers do not include at least one of the latter three human needs, you are potentially wasting or missing out on thousands of dollars per year. Call me to help you to pinpoint the contribution your business is making and can potentially make, while increasing your profits and making it a real employer of choice.
Dr Haley Jones
M: 0439 409 015
E: [email protected]| W: www.drhaleyjones.com