How To Build A Business That Produces Human & Economic Value In Tandem

Years back I wrote a book, Business Unusual, on my beliefs about how businesses will be in the future. Business in the future will be all about treating people as humans not functions or tools. It won’t measure success in terms of economic values only. Businesses will become humanized. Our goal is that by 2050 at least 75% of global business will run as Truly Human Companies.

Bob Chapman compared a business to a car and these make up the pillar of a Truly Human Company:

1. Leadership as the driver

2. The business model as the engine

3. The culture as the fuel that powers the engine

When the leadership is truly human, there is a likelihood that the business model and culture will be truly human. It all starts with the leader. When leaders focus on treating their people as humans, they will design a business model and culture that are truly human. When leaders focus on people as functions, they will ignore the fact that people are human, and have families.

When leaders focus on economic value to measure success, employees become a tool they use to achieve that. They don’t care how their people feel. To them, they don’t pay their people to feel but to perform. They can put performance pressure on their people till they become stressed. Stress has been found to be the source of chronic illness. Stressed employees also get home and spread the stress to their families.

However, when leaders begin to see their people as humans with families at home they will have to return to, it changes the way we work. As a result, they develop systems that send every one of their employees home happy. They are in the business of helping their people be happy so they can spread happiness at home and in their communities.

At HumanKabal, our goal is to provide companies with the tools that will transform their organizations to become Truly Human. To us:

Truly Human Leadership is leaders who care for people as humans and are focused on building an organization that creates, delivers, and captures value for all stakeholders. It is the stewardship of the lives that are entrusted to you.

Truly Human Culture is how company leaders create value for their employees as humans, deliver value to them and capture value as performance and innovation (value creation) thereby making their people better humans.

Truly Human Business Model is how companies (leaders and employees) create value for their customers as humans, deliver value to them and capture value as revenue and profit.

Here are the tools that we provide companies with to become Truly Human.

Truly Human Company Canvas

A Truly Human Company creates value for all its stakeholders (employees, customers, investors/shareholders, and communities).

Truly Human Culture Canvas

Having a Truly Human Culture is the best Social Responsibility strategy a company can have. When their people are happy, every other stakeholder will be happy. Truly Human Culture cares about people's psychological safety, happiness and aspiration.

Truly Human Business Model Canvas

Truly Human Business Model doesn't count money spent on making employees better as cost or expense but as an investment. It not only provides all stakeholders with a cause but also a transformation.

The best way to care for the environment and society is to care for your people. Companies cannot destroy the lives and families of their employees and then go out and donate to the community as a strategy to be tagged a socially responsible company. That's hypocrisy. In the future, humans will only do business with companies that enhance the human experience and flourishing.

The most strategic advantage for businesses will not be to go green but to become humanized. When we care for the humans under our care, we will take care of the environment and treat everyone right.