Euphoric purpose is the motivation, beyond profits, that drives people to excellence. The transparency, decentralization, consensus, and participatory ownership that embody democratic business exists to create passionate and engaged workers. According to Steven R. Covey, passionate, engaged people spend 60-80 percent of their time working on non-urgent, important activities (e.g., skill building, planning, relationship building, and thinking). People driven by fear spend most of their time on everything else (e.g., deadlines, interruptions, and distractions). According to Covey, not only do passionate, engaged people spend more time on non-urgent, important activities, but they are consequently more productive, successful, and happy.
If Covey's research is right, then we should ask ourselves, 'How many business owners are willing to free up 80 percent or even 60 percent of their workers' time to focus on the important, but not urgent, activities of the business?' For most people, the thought of doing so inspires visions of chaos, diminished productivity, and lost profits. And yet, A study done by Kenexa Research Institute found that of 4,000 worldwide companies, the top 25 engaged workplaces outperformed the 25 lowest engaged businesses 7-to-1 (based on shareholder return, on a five-year basis). Furthermore, a Gallup study of three million employees, published in 2005, calculated that disengagement costs U.S. businesses $350 billion in annual profits. Gallup found that 71 percent of American employees are either “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” from their work. If you think this is only indicative of lazy workers, read on. The Corporate Executive Board reported in 2010 that high-potential employees are increasingly disengaged and seeking new career opportunities. Some 25 percent plan to leave their current employers in the next year compared to 10 percent in 2006. About one in five (21 percent) identify themselves as 'highly disengaged'--a three-fold increase since 2007. With numbers like these, it is no wonder that shows like "the Office" are so popular.
As demonstrated, passionate and engaging workplaces retain better talent and increase profits. Transparency, decentralization, consensus, and participatory ownership are proven ways to inspire and engage workers. We can fix our economy by implementing these principles into American business. The first step is to realize that numbers do not drive people, but people and relationships drive numbers.
(Information taken from http://www.kenexa.com/getattachment/8c36e336-3935-4406-8b7b-777f1afaa57d/The-Impact-of-Employee-Engagement.aspx, http://corporatecranium.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ActionCoachNovember20101.pdf, http://www.hrmguide.net/usa/commitment/actively_disengaged.htm, and http://www.worldblu.com/live/2005/presentations/Traci%20Fenton.pdf)
(See also, http://www.workplacementalhealth.org/Publications-Surveys/Research-Works/Employee-Engagement-Best-Practices-for-Employers.aspx?FT=.pdf)
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