A responsible and responsive employer
This principle is an exploration of how the role of business can be recast from being seen as a group of people working under contract to produce goods and services to be sold at a profit, to a recognition that business brings people together to achieve something they could not do alone, and provides opportunities for them to develop.
Work can be a great source of meaning, and meaningful work and a meaningful workplace which is inspired by purpose and cultivates generative relationships provide a healthy context to search for and nurture meaning. Of course, work is not the sole source of meaning as we seek meaning in the completeness of our lives; but in the workplace, the business and business leaders can create the conditions that encourage people to seek and nurture meaning in their work, their relationships and in the overall purpose of the organisation. This requires respect, the means to contribute, autonomy, growth and development.
Being responsive as well as responsible
- This is a commitment to being with and alongside employees.
- Being responsive is about listening, and taking action, in a spirit of acknowledging the ability and desire of people to contribute to a better outcome, and the value that their insight applied to the work they do brings to the organisation.
- Being responsible and responsive is a combination of accountabilities – to lead but not overwhelm, to encourage psychological safety, to distribute power and support empowerment by removing the blockages to making this happen.
Example:
The Covid pandemic provided many vivid examples of responsive employers who adjusted working patterns and practices to accommodate many people working from home, and to keep everyone safe. Time spent in listening to understand employees needs and how best to support them proved extremely important, alongside putting in place support measures to address mental health and other needs exacerbated by the pandemic.
Treats everyone with dignity and provides fair pay for all
- Treating everyone with dignity is to respect the unique value of each person as a “someone not a something”. In large organisations, it is all too easy for people to feel that they are not valued as people, and it takes sustained effort and commitment to ensure people feel valued and respected.
- The word “everyone” emphasises the importance of true inclusion – this is diversity through valuing people’s distinctiveness. This is discussed further in: Valuing diversity and building bridges (Plurality)
- Fair pay is not as simple as whether or not an employer pays the living or minimum wage. It is looking at reward and whether it is fair, in the round.
Example:
An employer may pay the living wage as an hourly rate but only offer employees a few hours of work a day – is this fair pay? It may pay the leaders and executives generous bonuses but have a large number of people on zero-hours contracts – is this fair pay?
- Fair pay is a reflection of a person’s contribution to the business rather than through simplistic notions of grade or age or strength of voice or influence in demanding recognition. This is a conscious decision to set pay levels based on contribution rather than simple fulfilment of contractual obligations (the minimum). This does require a greater understanding of people’s needs, both financial and social (for example work flexibility). If people feel they lack access to opportunities or others are favoured in terms of pay and opportunity it is difficult to feel respected.
- There is often no simple answer to the question “what is fair pay?” as fairness encompasses a range of factors. But by becoming purpose-led, a business is making a commitment to act fairly in decision taking and this demands internal challenge and dialogue, especially on how decisions are made on pay, which sends a powerful signal within organisations about what – and who – really matters.
For more on how to think about acting fairly in business see our paper: Fairness in Business Report 2019
Enables and welcomes constructive dialogue
- When a company is committed to its purpose, it creates space for constructive dialogue within the organisation. Not only does this help a company stay true to its purpose but it enables all employees to engage in what it means in practice and to contribute with their insights and ideas.
- The act of feeling heard and responded to creates a deeper connection with the company’s purpose with employees investing and giving more as a result.
- It also supports the development of healthy and generative dialogue with customers, communities and suppliers, as employees are more informed and engaged. Holding on-going, widespread conversations about what matters and continually surfacing and exploring the meaning and intention of a company’s purpose helps unleash creativity and innovation.
- In promoting constructive dialogue it’s important to be honest and open with employees about what is hard and transparent about the challenges ahead. To avoid a conversation about what might be difficult or about what the doubts and reservations are is to undervalue the real contribution employees can make, diminish the value of purpose itself, and leave people ill-equipped for the journey ahead.
For more on how to think about constructive dialogue read Blueprint’s blog: Navigating dialogue in business
Fosters innovation, leadership and personal accountability
- The behaviour freedom with responsibility (Subsidiarity) in our Framework is key here. This includes enabling people to help the business be true to its purpose, encouraging them to build relationships with those they work with (including suppliers, customers and others) and helping them to understand their role within the overall business and how it contributes to the overall purpose.
- It also includes giving people the autonomy to craft their work (to take pride in how they use and develop their skills in producing an outcome), encouragement to develop their skills and whole self, fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging them to contribute to making decisions at all levels.
Protects and nurtures all who work for it
- This is about the business being responsible to those who contribute to its success and seeing its role as enabling their development and growth as an integral part of the business.
- The notion of all who work for it is to promote responsibility beyond those it employs directly, to use its influence (direct and indirect) to consider other ‘workers’ who depend on it such as those in the “gig economy”, agency workers and those in extended supply chains.
- It also extends to how the company thinks about the future of work. As technology enables different ways of working and the scale of certain industries are reduced (e.g. oil drilling) the responsibility to help those displaced now and in the future becomes an urgent one, with companies recognising their responsibility in enabling a just transition to a new working world. This requires forward planning and systemic thinking so that people in roles most vulnerable to displacement are being reskilled and redeployed before it is too late.
This principle together with the behaviours set out in the Framework informs culture and leadership in a purpose-led business. These are discussed further in: A purpose-led culture