A typhoon, basketball and your company

This publication is a repost of a post I made in December 2014 on my tumblr blog. Besides the fact that I think Medium is a much better platform to post the type of content I desire to post, this post remains relevant in the face of global crises and uncertainty today, perhaps even more so now. The publication focuses on the need to motivate your employees in the face of increasing uncertainty and a few HR strategies to guide you in doing so. Since the publication, there have been some major developments are as follows:

1. The price of oil and gas has plummeted a dramatic 58% from US$75.57 to US$31.41 since, a continuation of decline that started in June 2014. This was around the same time that the Syrian conflict took on a new dimension.
2. Persistence in jobless growth continued whereby economies coming out of economic recession reported economic growth while maintaining or even decreasing employment. This can be attributed to increasing automation as well as the global phenomenon of the freelancer economy. You can learn more about the freelancer economy here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-lund/freelance-economy-future-work_b_8420866.html
3. The trend of continued growth in profits and power continues to reside in the technological giants such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Uber, Airbnb and Facebook. While there has been an increase in other global players (particularly from China) such as Alibaba, Xiaomi, WeChat, Huawei, Baidu. The market cap for Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook alone is over US$1.5 trillion dollars.
4. While cloud technology matured the emergence of IoT is quickly advancing and changing the whole industries in a very disruptive way. Traditional methods of conducting of conducting industry analyses is now threatened by the emergence of IoT. All the major players have already positioned themselves in global value chains from the supply end to the customer end. This Goldman Sach’s report summarizing how IoT is changing every aspect of the business spectrum. http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/pages/internet-of-things/iot-report.pdf
5. These trends in technology have changed the skills requirements of the modern day worker. With the accelerated advancements of technology, we may see the emergence of the “predictive worker” as the natural progression of the knowledge worker.

All these developments have had a profound effect on organizations and its human capital. Yet until the machines take over like the Matrix, a mix of sound and innovative HR practices will definitely be necessary to execute on your companies vision. So without further ado here is my republication of “A typhoon, basketball and your company”.

I recently viewed a video posted on Vimeo by the Samaritan’s Purse International Relief Organization about the recent devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The following is the caption accompanied with the video link:

“Since we began rebuilding w/ the Filipino people in the days after Typhoon Haiyan, nothing has been more endearing than their resilience & their love of basketball. Collectively, they’ve found comfort in a game, & to this day, they continue to rebound.

Please give to our continued relief effort & share this video all over the interwebs. We have a team in place to help with the most recent typhoon. To find out more about how you can help, check out these links:

samaritanspurse.org 
sptv.org
twitter.com/samaritanspurse
facebook.com/samaritanspurse

© Samaritan’s Purse. 2014

Firstly, I will like to encourage you to join in the effort and follow the links above and spread the message.

Secondly, the video provoked much thought about the human spirit. In the video, the devastation of the typhoon is quite apparent. More apparent was the Filipino people’s love of basketball and how this love of basketball has helped keep them in such a devastating time. This love of basketball has brought out the resilience of the people in the rebuilding process and helped them recognize that the same teamwork that is required in the sport that they love, is the same teamwork required to repair and restore their communities. Being able to make the connection certainly will bring a level of hope to the people that it is possible. Clearly, the Samaritan’s Purse are understanding what motivates the people and are communicating the right messages to help spur them on to great things.

Are your employees motivated?

This begs the question: What activities have your company been undertaking to continually identify with what motivates your people? Many times organisations can be lulled into a false sense of security by offering good financial compensation packages to employees as a means to attract the best talent. While everyone certainly wants to be paid well, it is becoming more apparent that the modern workforce is motivated by many things beside a great salary. A recent Forbes article based on a Gallup poll, noted that “unhappy employees outnumber happy ones by two to one worldwide.” And only “13% of workers feel engaged by their jobs.” In these modern times, where information is just but a click away and social networks such as LinkedIn continue to grow, employees are becoming more socially conscious about their careers and are shifting away from settling in one job for their entire career. While this may have some benefits to employers , the crucial ability to attract, motivate and retain the top talent becomes even more strategic and critical.

What insight does the video offer?

Beyond the obvious message of teamwork required to achieve success, the video highlights the power of motivating people to great achievements through initiatives that are mutually rewarding: by engaging the Filipino people in their passions, Samaritan’s Purse is able to tap into their conscience to communicate that they are capable of overcoming the challenges through teamwork, as they are all too familiar with by their understanding of basketball. Similarly, your organisation must find the common denominators that motivate your human resource to persevere and achieve, effectively cultivating and communicating the right messages continuously throughout the entire corporation. Your human resource management practices must strategically view the employees as more valuable assets than any physical or capital asset. Companies that integrate human capital investments into their financials are more poised to see the return of that investment. After all, its the people who make the show go on.

Some useful tips

Whether you are now starting or an established business, here are three key strategies that you should center your HRM activities upon:

1. Consider your employees as investments — Such an approach helps to ensure HR practices and principles are clearly in sync with the organization’s overall strategy, forces the organization to invest in its best opportunities, and ensures that performance standards are met.
2. Identify mutually beneficial opportunities and take advantage of them — For example, stock ownership programs attempts to strategically invest in the people and the organization, by making employees owners of the company. This resolves potential conflicts as to how best to allocate profits, whether to issue bonuses or reinvest into the business.
3. Center your competitive advantage around your HR strategy: How did Google, Apple and the likes become so dominant in their respective markets? Ask anyone if they are interested in working in these companies and why, and I guarantee that the company culture is one of the most alluring factors. Why leave to become an entrepreneur, when you already feel like an entrepreneur within the organization? Many of Google’s innovations have been derived out of their HR strategy that allows employee’s 20% of their work time to work on their own ideas.

Conclusion

If you have not been practicing any of those few strategies identified, maybe its time that you re-evaluate your HR strategy to better position your company to be able to rebound in the face of challenging circumstances. You never know when a “typhoon” may come.