This is perhaps one of the things top management ought to ask themselves. The unquestionable believe that we all «go to work» might well be one of the reasons why the current conception of leadership and scientific administration is falling short in resonating with people.
If in addition to this we see people as resources to be «used» to accomplish organizational goals and objectives, we arrive at one of the roots of the current corporate cultural dysfunction.
Furthermore, if top management operates with the goal of creating value to share-holders by operating at the minimum cost, with the goal of accumulating economic value and financial returns, then we might have the perfect recipe for an unsustainable future.
It should not come as a surprise then, the existing efforts to create employee well-being and satisfaction. Yet however the root of disfunction lies in the mental models, or paradigms, we inherited from the Industrial Revolution.
People in organizations need to find avenues for satisfying not only self-interest, money, appreciation and recognition, but avenues for the manifestation of their soul.
This is not in the radar of management if we believe people come to work
For this to emerge, we «must» change prevailing vision on the nature of the entity we call organization, the reason of its existence and the relation we have in place with people, society and nature.
It is no doubt the onset of a change of era, the system can no longer support executives that operate from the narrow vision of the self-interest, nor consultants and academics that continue to speak as sleep walkers of what can not be achieved (well-being) from a dysfunctional and unhealthy corporate culture.
This is not a matter of leadership courses, nor traditional business consultants in culture, it is a matter of individual and corporate «awakening» to create business processes that balance self-interest with the call for meaning of individuals and societies. By doing so, they would offer the avenue for the expression of the individual’s soul, embracing a trascendental corporate purpose supported by business processes for social value and the complete alignment and congruence between messages, leadership styles, policies and structure.
These requiere a change of business paradigms and goes beyond conscious capitalism initiatives.
The good news is that this awakening is unavoidable if we are to witness the dawn of a new civilization.