Every company has got a culture, only few have got soul. It's time to change that!

Welcome to the latest newsletter. This week, I am happy to announce that the Soul System is now a registered trademark! Also, there′s a lot on why focusing on employees should matter more (and it does in some countries with powerful results). Belonging is a word that comes up again and again – because the?shared understanding?of the Soul System? is all about belonging. And … another great example from Tom Peters. Enjoy the read.

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The Soul System is a Registered Trademark!

When I started writing Building Corporate Soul and asked to be challenged on the content by a few friends, they unanimously said: “You got to trademark the Soul System”. Well, I followed their advice and started the trademarking process with the US authorities. Many moons later – actually 16 months later – I received confirmation from the United States Trademark and Patent Office that the Soul System is now a registered trademark. ? instead of ? - a small step, but a very important one.

Why are there so Few Countries in which Employees have a Say on the Board?

Building Corporate Soul is all about human-centric businesses. They deliver stronger results, are more sustainable and enjoy significant higher levels of employee loyalty. Whenever a leader tells me that his / her business has soul, I challenge back by saying “Do your employees say that, too?”. Because management can only create an environment for a culture to thrive, employees can judge whether it does … or not. Hence the opinion of employees matters significantly to the success of a business.

Now, ever since I had the opportunity to understand other cultures around the world, I have stumbled upon the fact that most countries do not expect corporate boards to include the voice of their employees on their boards. I came across a recent interview lead by charterworks.com with Thomas Kochan, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and faculty member in the MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research. He explained why this makes perfect sense (by the way it′s a legal requirement for certain types of companies in Germany, Norway, Sweden, and France): “There are several reasons for this. One is that employees can add value and expand the agenda that typical boards of directors discuss by bringing information from what the workforce is saying, feeling, and experiencing into the discussions. It helps bring new information to board decisions. Often, in my experience at least, it allows the member to suggest issues that might be discussed at future board meetings that typically haven't been on the agenda.”

He also refers to the US situation and describes that American workers now want a seat on boards of directors: “The evidence is growing. We did a survey that asked 'What form of representation would you prefer?' And representation on boards of directors came out positive as something that workers want. So, there is a growing expectation that workers want a voice in the key decisions that shape the company, not in a necessarily adversarial way, but in a way that their voice is heard and that they can help hold the company accountable for adhering to its values.”

Does it really make a difference? He′s got a clear view: “In Germany, a colleague of ours, Simon J?ger, used a very creative research design when the law changed for companies with 500 employees having to have representatives on their board. Through careful econometric work, they found that companies with board representation invest more for the long run. They don't necessarily have higher wages and benefits, but are more productive because of the longer-term investments. That's the most careful study of this that I've ever seen.”

There′s much more relevant detail in the interview which you can read?here?in full.

Belonging – The Magic Word when it comes to Corporate Culture

McKinsey have analyzed last October why people quit in spades: they do not feel any sense of belonging to their employer. And worse: employers do not consider ′sense of belonging′ a top 10 reason why people might leave.

Now, Indeed.com have taken an in-depth view on exactly that subject via a nine-month study of company culture in the U.S. in 2021. They gathered data from more than 2,200 workers on their conscious and unconscious beliefs about company culture, and uncovered what matters most (and least) to them. An additional survey gained insights into how COVID-19 has impacted their views of company culture.

In Indeed’s research on company culture, belonging is defined as the extent to which employees feel supported and empowered by their employers to be themselves at work.

“Belonging is a feeling of community with people and environments that makes us feel connected,” explains LaFawn Davis, Senior Vice President of Environmental, Social and Governance at Indeed.

Humans are social creatures, and, in turn, our work plays a central role in this aspect of our lives. From collaborating with coworkers to chatting with clients, presenting in meetings or coming together to celebrate holidays and milestones, our work brings us together. This social component of work, we find, matters more than people realize — and belonging to something bigger than oneself doesn’t just feel good, it meets a fundamental need.

Psychological safety is one key ingredient for belonging. When employees have psychological safety at work, they know they are recognized as whole people, not just human capital. But belonging does more than make people feel safe and secure; it also gives a sense of direction. Scott Bonneau, Vice President of Global Talent Attraction at Indeed, has seen this firsthand throughout his career. To nurture productivity and happiness on teams, he stresses the need for “that basic principle of creating clarity about how people relate to their peers and to their work, and then how that work relates to the things they are trying to accomplish as a team.”

This is so true. Remember from the Soul System?, it′s about clarity of?shared purpose, shared understanding (vision, mission, values, spirit) and shared behavior.?It’s no surprise, then, that Indeed’s culture research shows strong correlations among workers’ sense of belonging, professional identity and purpose.

According to Indeed.com, “workers report that the top three factors that impact belonging are feeling valued as a whole person (53%), being recognized for their work (49%) and working collaboratively with team members (45%). Employers can use these insights to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, taking the time to celebrate employee achievements is a simple way to boost belonging that can start now. Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be an elaborate party — a supportive Slack message or shout-out from the boss can go a long way toward building morale and nurturing a strong workplace culture.” The full Indeed report can be found here.?

More often than not, Leaders need Courage

Praveen Ponnuru , the CEO of Alpine Recruitment & Retention Solutions, has summarized it perfectly: there are different types of courage required from leaders to lead people effectively, inspire and help them to succeed. Here they are

Physical Courage:?To keep going with resilience in the face of adversity.

Social Courage:?To be yourself unapologetically.

Moral Courage:?To do the right thing even when it makes you uncomfortable or unpopular.

Emotional Courage:?Feeling all your emotions both positive and negative without guilt or attachment.

Intellectual Courage:?To learn unlearn and relearn with an open and flexible mind.

Spiritual Courage:?Living with purpose and meaning through a heart centered approach towards self and others.

Workplace Flexibility is so much more than just Working From Home

Again, McKinsey have provided massive insight into what Workplace Flexibility really means: “True flexibility is much bigger than the freedom to work remotely, and many organizations still miss the mark.” Here′s what they have found – original quotes from McKinsey:

• Employees today demand flexibility tailored to their specific needs, whether it be work-life balance, physical and emotional health, or caring for family. Managers will play a key role in personalizing flexibility for their direct reports as they work with HR to develop unique, creative solutions for their people.
• Where work can be done. This is the element that is most ingrained in how companies view flexibility. Among employees who left the workforce and later returned, nine out of 10 said that having control of where work can be done was an important factor—regardless of whether the role was in person, remote, or hybrid.?
• When work can be done. This element of flexibility may include employees setting their own working days and hours, giving sufficient notice on overtime and schedule changes so that work remains predictable, and allowing people to take time off when needed. Three out of four employees—whether in person, hybrid, or remote—reported that having control over when they work was a key factor impacting their decision to accept their current job.?
• How work can be done. This third element of flexibility means putting employees in the driver’s seat of their daily work activities—from allowing them to pace their workload to empowering them to decide how to accomplish work tasks. Three out of five in-person employees and four out of five hybrid or remote employees reported that having control over how work is completed was an important reason for taking their current job.

Read the entire study and concrete action items?here.

First AirBnB, now Spotify

Spotify's 6,500+ employees are now able to work from wherever they want. Whether it′s from a place on the beach, their mobile home, their real home, or the office, or whatever you can think of. But, it′s an option for which an agreement is needed: "The exact mix of home and office mode is a decision made jointly by each employee and their manager."

If employees want to move to another city or country, they can do that too. If there is no Spotify office in the vicinity, the company supplies membership of a co-working space.

The big difference to many firms is that they will continue to pay metropolitan citylevel salaries (based on the job) to employees working remotely.?“Most of our offices are in large cities like New York, London and Stockholm, but we know that moving to or staying in these cities isn’t always realistic for—or attractive to—potential employees,” said Travis Robinson, Spotify's head of diversity, inclusion and belonging. “This is an opportunity to scrap the idea that big cities are the only places where meaningful work can happen, because we know first-hand that isn’t true. We want employees to come as they are, wherever they are and whatever their circumstances are” he said.

As the Soul System? suggests, clarity about why things are supposed to be the way they are, is essential. Spotify are very clear on their blog.

?"Our beliefs are: Work isn’t something you come to the office for, it’s something you do. Effectiveness can’t be measured by the number of hours people spend in an office – instead, giving people the freedom to choose where they work will boost effectiveness. Giving our people more flexibility will support better work-life balance and help tap into new talent pools while keeping our existing band members. Operating as a distributed organisation will produce better and more efficient ways of working through more intentional use of communication and collaboration practices, processes and tools."

If you want to know more about their approach, read the full story from the corporate-rebels?here.

Talent in an Organization is a Hard Factor, not a Soft Factor

Simon Koerner , 德铁信可 ′s People & Organization Leader is very clear about it: “People topics and Company Culture should never be seen as soft factors of a company. Because they come up in interviews and hiring processes so often, that they become hard selling points to attract, hire and retain the best people.”

?Social philosopher Charles Handy said it perfectly:

People need Leadership.

Things need Management.

It is dangerous to get the other way around.

Simon is taking the words right out of my mouth when he says: “It is a business priority to attract and retain the best people. For line managers it becomes immensely important to not just leave employer branding, talent management and company culture to the #humanresources department. Line managers have to become aware that they are ambassadors of culture and talent management to increase the employer attractiveness - the way they behave in interviews, answer questions and act in day-to-day challenges are make or break situations.” His table shows very simply what matters.

Tom Peters knows

Ever since he wrote "In Search Of Excellence", Tom Peters is great source of wisdom. Here's a recent tweet that is so easy to implement ... for anyone:

The next edition of the Building Corporate Soul newsletter will be in your mailbox on August 21. Please continue to join me on my mission to make soulless companies a thing of the past in 2022!