Businesses should have employees that care about their business, employees who view their work as a positive part of their life and not just a job. Companies should strive to create an environment where this is possible. If that happens – if people genuinely love their work – it is likely that the business itself will become, what we call, a living business, or one that almost has human characteristics. The business will be responsive, emotive and ambitious. It will be able to change with the times.
So how does a company become a “living business”?
● Develop a personality: This is the behaviours, beliefs and values that shape the experience of interacting with your company, whether as a customer or a colleague. Much more than just the brand, it is everything you exhibit to the world.
● Nurture instinct: This is how your company responds to difficult situations. If you empower and trust your colleagues to make decisions without needing to feed up through higher management each time, change will happen more nimbly.
● Hone craft: This is the essence of what your business does, and what each person within the business contributes. It is about the combination of skills that make its offering unique – and impossible for your competitors to replicate.
● Value relationships: This refers to every relationship within the ecosystem of the business, including each colleague, customer, supplier and wider society. Great business has always been founded on great relationships – but nowadays this is more important than ever.
Source: SCMP
