Dalai Lama guides workplace productivity

Some weeks ago the Dalai Lama was guest editor for the Vancouver Sun. In his lead article he commented that our purpose in life is to be happy. Certainly no-one can argue that most of us want to be happy. Just look at the self help section in your local bookstore.

The Dalai Lama then goes on to say that we achieve a greater sense of well-being when we care for the happiness of others. This takes care of the simplistic, and indeed destructive, notion that we can and should strive for continuous personal happiness. In other words, if I understand the Dalai Lama correctly, our happiness is a by-product of our striving for the general good.

Things become a little bit more complicated when we look at the workplace. Should happiness be something we strive for within the workplace? How do we collectively define happiness and what is the greater good within an organizational setting?

These are hard questions to answer. Let’s tackle two of them:
1. Is happiness important in the workplace?
2. What is the greater good in the workplace?

As a result of research by John Helliwell, professor emeritus of economics at UBC, we now understand that the pay cheque is only half the story in terms of employee satisfaction. Just as important is how far you think you can trust your boss. If, on a scale of one to 10, you can give your employer a one-point rise in rank on trust issues, the flood of well-being you'll experience will be equivalent to a one-third increase in income. So – improve trust levels – employees will be happy and performance will improve?

Well, maybe – but didn’t the Dalai Lama also say something about happiness being the by-product of working for the greater good. So what is the greater good in an organization – the vision? Many visions are centred around making more money, selling more product. Perhaps we have to look at the organizational values; the accepted standards and behaviors that hold us together.

Values throughout the western world espouse notions such as; honesty, integrity, respect, loyalty, innovation, teamwork, excellence, accountability, pride. These are all concepts we can relate to and probably adhere to in our personal lives. So if we can connect the organizational values to those of the employees – we have something that is a common good. Something we can work toward together.

I have been involved in not-for-profits where the personal and organizational values were so closely linked that it was hard not to feel like everyone was working for the greater good. It’s a little more challenging when you deliver janitorial services. And yet my friend Steve says the company he works for is hot on values – it’s something he talks with employees about all the time, topmost among them pride and teamwork.

Happiness and values – these are tall orders for a busy organization. If you don’t have a retreat planned when you can build your values or an HR consultant to help you develop strategies to improve trust, try these two simple strategies:
1. Each senior leader take a value that is important to him or her and does three things:
a. Live that value very deliberately – every day
b. Talk about that value
c. Comment on others living that value.
2. Just as the Vancouver Sun did when the Dalai Lama edited the newspaper, ask people to submit stories about themselves or fellow employees who live the values. Display them on the notice board. Give out prizes. You will create a groundswell of goodwill and coincidentally break down silos.

Here’s to happy, value-driven workplaces!

The shoe fits when the culture lives the values

Today my teenage daughter began her first ever job search. The retail outlets she chose to leave her resume with was eclectic. Her criteria was simple: would I use, wear or eat their products/service and do I feel welcome when I enter one of their stores?

She had no trouble figuring out which stores to approach. A large number of shoe stores featured in her list - which is not surprising from someone who wrote "An ode to the Red Pump" for her poetry unit. Some may say we instinctively know when the shoe fits. But in reality we humans are very good observers and we can tell by the behaviors of others when an environment is at odds with our core values.

Trouble arises when we get conflicting messages and are seduced into thinking an organization is something it is not. Which is why it is absolutely key that organizations are true to their values and don't try and do a "snow" job. With a whole new generation of youth coming into the job market who can afford to go elsewhere - we need to attract the people who fit.

Why we choose to live by the rules

A dear friend of mine shared her woes with me about her teenage son. He is testing boundaries, and the value of rules, in a very trying fashion for his mother.

All social systems have rules; most often they are a good thing and make our lives much easier. I am a Canadian and here in Canada we feel it is important to abide by the law and give everyone an equal opportunity. This means we respect line-ups, patiently wait our turn when traffic lanes merge, and we all experience equally unreasonable wait times for our certain medical procedures. Our tax laws are quite ridiculously cumbersome because they aim to be fair. That is the way we do things here.

And sometimes it’s frustrating. When you have to wait six months or a year for knee surgery – all this fairness seems, well – a little unfair. But for the most part it works and people respect the system.

Organizations too have systems and we would hope that when people join organizations they take the time to understand its values to ensure it’s a place they will feel comfortable in; a place where they can follow the rules.
My husband works for a large Canadian company with a very strong set of values. A small group of employees clearly did not share the same set of values; they broke the company rules – and the mess landed up on the front page of the newspaper.

That little drama has now played itself off of the front pages and out of the public arena. Inside the organization the drama has lingered. The remaining employees are deeply wounded. They were incensed that a few rogue individuals have brought into question their values. These are people who take great pride in what they do and the company they work for. This was a deeply personal and very upsetting experience for them.

I am given to understand that the executives were a little taken aback at the strength of the reaction. They should not be. We are all human and we all have strong emotional reactions when our values are messed with. Why should it be any different at work?

Employees need to feel part of a greater whole. They need to feel their values are in sync with those of the organization. They need to understand the big picture and how they contribute to the organization’s success; common values are a part of that bigger picture.