What is the secret to cultivating a productive workforce?
Michael Hayman MBE, entrepreneur, author and broadcast spoke on the first day of Elite Business on 10 March as the keynote speaker for the Commercial Business Growth talk, speaking about the importance of having a purpose when starting your business ‘ and why a clear mission can propel your company to greater heights.
Michael spoke about some of the world’s most well-known brands including Facebook, Yahoo and Blockbuster – and how a decade can completely change everything. He spoke about the trajectory of these brands and how some succeeded into multi-million-pound businesses ‘ while some failed. Meanwhile, others completely changed their branding. Some businesses were launched much later in the game and rose to the top while their competitors shut down for good.
They have defined things in a way I think previous generations of companies can never do, Michael explained. An entrepreneur told us the reason why this matters is because we’re living in an environment of ‘dog years’… It means that business has become more powerful in our age and our lifetime. When you think about Microsoft and the range of companies pulling out of Russia. The world’s top 100 economies and corporations, businesses and bodies of influence have more power than they’ve ever had before.
He added: 40% of the US GDP is dependent on companies that did not exist 15 years ago… This is not just about the titans of Microsoft, McDonald’s and others, this is about the businesses that are running today and changing things. Some of the most powerful companies of our lifetime are yet to be created. We haven’t seen anything yet in terms of the role of entrepreneurs to be defining and changing. What’s interesting is how many of these new shaping companies are going to get involved with some of the big challengers of our time. When you look at solving the planet’s problems, and the variety of different things on the world’s to do list. Will businesses offer the tools and ideas that will shape that change?
Michael spoke about the ‘purposeful’ business and why it is the new future. Businesses that are purpose-driven are more likely to drive profits in a new age of activism. People want to invest in a bigger goal and a mission ‘ and we are living in an era of change. We’re all activists now, this is the age of the activist business, Michael explained. Purpose is the point, profit is the result, it’s the natural order of things. Purposeful companies, the data shows you are more successful now. They call them the ‘firms of endearment’. These are the firms where they start with that salesforce mentality of trying to do good things and do it well.
Having an inspired team can take your business to greater heights, Michael said. Inspired teams are more productive teams, and Michael explained how inspiration and productivity are intrinsically linked. Inspired teams are more productive teams. One inspired employee creates roughly two and a quarter satisfied employees… Inspired employees operate at 225 per cent on productivity. If people believe in a firm and believe in its causes, they do better, they do work more and the reason why that is that satisfied employees have got safety and it’s a bit like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. They can do their jobs efficiently and they might be valued and rewarded.
Employees that feel inspired by their company’s values will likely be more invested in the business and the overall purpose of their work ‘ and will likely take the time to put in more effort, rather than just doing the bare minimum. Engaged employees tend to be part of an extraordinary team, Michael said. They have the autonomy to do what they want to do. They learn and grow, and they make a difference and an impact. But inspired employees get meaning and inspiration for the places that they work, the company’s passion. And they’re inspired by the company’s values and the leadership of that company in terms of what it is trying to do.
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