The Human Asset Manifesto

How Leaders Can Create A Sustainable Business Model By Promoting Social Harmony

Leaders are increasingly required to respond to the incessant demands of governments, statutory organisations, corporate bloggers, NGOs, and a more educated and discerning public on the actions of their organisations. These groups, now more than ever, are defining the very nature of organisations and ultimately what they can or cannot do.

The Human Asset Manifesto recognises that organisations are part of the fabric of our societies, and that their actions significantly influence how we live. It further recognises that the activities of organisations, including that of their leaders and managers, are increasingly being scrutinised and even curtailed, based on their human and social impact.

Consequently, The Human Asset Manifesto maintains that the only way for organisations to create a long-term and sustainable business model, is to make human and social factors the foundation of their business strategy. By definition, this requires them to promote social harmony amongst all competing interests groups, both inside and outside of the organisation. Leaders and managers can achieve this in five main ways:

1.     Organisations should redefine themselves as Human Asset Organisations – networks of employees, clients, suppliers, investors, and the wider community. Within this context they can recognise that optimising the value of each asset segment, those both inside and outside the organisation, is critical to optimising the value of the entire network, and by so doing maintain a healthy social balance.

2.     By redefining itself as a Human Asset Organisation, an entity should also redefine its primary objective or BE – the higher purpose for which it exists. This will ensure that its strategies and decision-making are geared towards optimising social harmony across a broad community of interests, effectively improving the continuity and sustainability of its business model.

3.     Individuals are best motivated and engaged, and thus more innovative and productive, when they find a greater purpose in their life – when they have determined their BE. Thus once an organisation has determined its own BE, it should seek to attract, recruit and retain individuals who share that BE. By enabling individuals achieve their desired purpose organisations improve both their own value as well as that of the wider society.

4.     In an environment where they are constantly targeted with an endless array of products, consumers are increasingly inclined to respond to value propositions that embrace positive social values. By engaging in Social Value Marketing organisations can promote and accelerate the acceptance of these positive social values while defining their own unique market space.

5.     An organisation that is focused on social harmony and achieving a higher purpose will by the very nature of its activities look to cultivate like-minded and ethical investors – those concerned with the quality and not just the quantity of returns. This would significantly enhance the organisation’s ability to make positive social decisions and ultimately improve the allocation of capital to good causes.

Five Ways For Organisations To Add Value By Improving Social Harmony

The essence of The Human Asset Manifesto is that human and social factors are the greatest determinants of success and competitive advantage. Thus by definition, in order to fully leverage these assets, organisations must create an environment within which they are nurtured and flourished. Here are five ways in which leaders can improve social harmony in their organisations. 

1.     Young people assimilate technology more readily and far easier than their mature counterparts. Providing the young with greater opportunities to interact, contribute and assist in the decision making process directly leverages these capabilities and improves their integration into the work environment.

2.     Mature employees are a great store of corporate knowledge but 70% of what is in their heads is not recorded in any corporate manual or database. By demonstrating their recognition of the value of that store of knowledge, organisations can significantly improve the extent to which mature employees collaborate and share their expertise with others.

3.     In general, men still constitute the vast majority of senior executives and thus organisations continue to be dominated by male perspectives on management. However, women naturally have a more collaborative and social approach to people and are thus more suitable to the 21^st century business environment. Organisations that allow women to express themselves as women, releasing them from the confines of the male dominated perspective will increase their levels of collaboration, teamwork and engagement.

4.     Continuous reorganisations are nothing more than a vain attempt to impose rigid and static structures on an environment that is human and dynamic – and they are extremely disruptive. By focusing instead on cultivating greater communications and linkages across the diversity of social groups, organisations can ensure that they better leverage each others unique capabilities.

5.     It is commonly acknowledged that people are the most valuable asset within an organisation. The only way that organisations can fully reflect and demonstrate that they truly believe this is to make the development of people, people skills, and teams the primary responsibility of every manager as well as the basis on which they are recognised, promoted, and rewarded.

Women and Younger Employees The Most Overlooked Segments And Biggest Opportunities For Adding Value In Business Today

Ask nearly any company in the world what their secret to success is or what their most important asset is and without even having to think, they will reply “Our Employees.” And, while that would seem to be a very logical belief, in application it is only partially true. “Company leaders are quick to say that their employees are their most important asset and yet a close look at their organizations reveals a totally different story,” says Jonathan Ledwidge, author of The Human Asset Manifesto. “In reality the most valued employees tend to be older male employees that are most like the current company leadership – and that is a real mistake,” according to Ledwidge who says “Companies that want to succeed in today’s rapidly changing marketplace must embrace women and younger employees to have a chance of succeeding.”

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Controversial, Beyond The Mainstream, Recommended – Dave Lakhani on The Human Asset Manifesto

It is not often that a PR man picks up a client's work and says that he wants to work with it and learn more not because it is part of his work, but because it gives him an opportunity to become involved in something more meaningful than the norm. Yet, these are the sentiments expressed by Dave Lakhani when I suggested to him that it was apparent that his interest in The Human Asset Manifesto went beyond the mere professional.

The Human Asset Manifesto is not an expression of some interesting business idea. Rather, it is a heartfelt analysis of how and why organisations must adopt a human and social approach to their activities, and why such an approach will create value for all their human assets – employees, clients, suppliers, and the wider community.

The Human Asset Manifesto is a reflection of my socio-political beliefs, enshrined in a reality that recognises that companies exist well beyond the confines of their office walls. It establishes organisations within the context of life, as we know it – as millions of ordinary people who make the journey to offices and factories everyday experience it.

Dave’s reaction was thus personally rewarding, and he and I will be working on framing some of the key messages within the book and passing them to you in digestible bits. See his comments on the book on his blog Marketing The Bold Approach Method. While you are at it, check out the rest of Dave’s blog – he is a leading expert at marketing and accelerating business strategies.

Author Claims Most Organizations Are Socially Dysfunctional

New Book Exposes Why People Are An Organizations Greatest Asset and How Corporations Fail To Utilize Them

+1 902-660-3070; +44 (0) 20 7993 4720; jonathan.ledwidge@thapartners.com, www.thamanifesto.com
Dave Lakhani - Bold Approach, Inc (PR Representatives) +1 208-323-2653

While dysfunctional human relationships are a widely studied topic, it isn’t common to equate dysfunctionality to the relationships between organizations and their workforce. In his new book The Human Asset Manifesto; What Happens When Organizations Allow People The Freedom To BE, Jonathan Ledwidge makes the bold assertion that organizations are not only socially dysfunctional but they subjugate and destroy the human spirit!

“Managers often say good things about the importance of people but very seldom mean it, comments Ledwidge.  This can be seen from the rightsizing, downsizing, reorganizing and outsourcing that happens with unabashed frequency. These actions represent a failure to comprehend the true value of people and people processes. Worse still, this cycle is constantly repeated even when it obviously doesn’t work.”

The Human Asset Manifesto is a groundbreaking work that reveals how businesses can bring together the concepts of wealth and value, as well as human and social factors.  It demonstrates the critical role played by human and social factors from the time of the Industrial Revolution all the way through to the current IT Revolution, and specifically links the quality of human assets to excellence and competitive advantage. “I wanted to make both Marx and Rockefeller happy, comments Ledwidge. The most successful organizations in the future will be those organizations that operate and define themselves within a human and social context, giving people the freedom to BE.”

Drawing on his own vast experience and observations, Ledwidge notes that it is the very nature of organizations that destroys the human spirit.  “Instead of utilizing the passions and goals of its workforce and rewarding employee initiative, most jobs control and squash human creativity, stated Ledwidge. Consequently, neither the organization nor the individual ever attain their best or achieve their greatest ambitions. Instead, and to their mutual discomfort, they share a marginal existence.”

What is the answer to this social dysfunctionality? Ledwidge asserts that organizations must define themselves in a way that expresses the greater good for society. “Once an organization has redefined itself in a human and social context, comments Ledwidge, they should recruit people, not just qualifications, which share their vision.” Thus, The Human Asset Manifesto provides insights and tools that give organizations and individuals a framework to move beyond their current state of social dysfunctionality, to BE the very best that they can and want to BE.

Jonathan Ledwidge was born in London but grew up in his parents’ native Jamaica. He studied Physics and Chemistry at the University of West Indies before joining Price Waterhouse.  Jonathan has worked in the City of London for over 18 years in a number of global investment banks, including Continental, CIBC Capital Markets, and ABN AMRO. His roles included developing and implementing business strategies, transformational change, as well as devising methods for improving the productivity of sales and origination teams. Jonathan holds an MBA from Cass Business School in London. His first book, A Mannequin for President, is a critique on US Presidential politics. Currently he is Managing Partner at THAPartners.  For more information go to www.thamanifesto.com, email jonathan.ledwidge@thapartners.com or phone +44 20 7993 4720, or +44 (0) 7795 035 229 (mobile).   

Why Organisations Should Move Beyond CSR

In recent years, Corporate Social Responsibility has become an important part of business vernacular. There is no question that much of it is well intentioned. Yet, I will always remember and thus will always refer to a comment made by a journalist from the Economist – he realised that CSR was just a fad when tobacco companies started issuing CSR statements.

However, while tobacco companies do providing a glaring example of CSR’s less than wholesome image, there are others. There are the food and drinks companies that proudly boast of their CSR programmes, while at the same time their products are contributing to obesity and other health-related problems in the wider society.

Similar arguments can be put forward in respect of pharmaceutical companies that exploit intellectual capital and thus the livelihood of people in the developing world, while proclaiming how much they contribute to society.

This lends support to the argument that the vast majority of CSR initiatives are more about political correctness and PR than they are about strategic goals – the giving and the amount of the giving takes precedence over all else. As such, this makes CSR susceptible to the same limitations that afflict most other forms of philanthropy; the initiatives are difficult to sustain and the resources are rarely utilised in the most cost-effective way.

It is for this very reason why Warren Buffet gifted some $30 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, some five times more than he is giving to family related charities.

How then does CSR compute?

The truth is it does not.

If organisations are serious about their contribution to society, then they should focus less on CSR for philanthropic purposes, in favour of a more profound and deep-rooted approach to human and social issues – one that makes such issues the centrepiece of their business model, and not just a nice add-on.

Not only will this make organisations more honest in their endeavours, it will better equip them to deal with the multitude of human and social advocates – governments, NGOs, consumer groups, etc. – that are increasingly placing the greatest demands on their business. By so doing organisations will also be fully leveraging one of their most important humans assets – the wider community.

That is why organisations should be leading social change – it is part and parcel of what The Human Asset Manifesto is about.

Why Organisations Should Lead Social Change

There is scarcely an organisation today that does not find itself under intense public scrutiny.

The environment is certainly the foremost reason for this as energy companies, auto manufacturers, and utilities amongst others have all come under the spotlight for not doing enough to safeguard the future of the planet.

Food manufacturers and the soft drinks industry have also come in for their fair share of criticism for contributing to obesity, heart disease and a host of other ills.

Those organisations that purchase or utilise commodities from the developing world are being asked to pay a fair wage. While those that operate in and use developing country labour in the production of their goods stand to suffer a loss in reputation, if the conditions under which they employ those workers fall below what would normally considered to be decent standards.

Pharmaceutical companies face a slightly different challenge – they are being forced to provide generic or cheaper versions of their drugs to those who cannot afford it.

Yet, this is only part of the story. As the world becomes more connected and consumers become more knowledgeable, educated and discerning, the pressure on the modern organisation will continue to increase.

Whether they are environmental, demographic, health or lifestyle related, human and social factors will increasingly dominate the corporate business agenda. They are the source of an organisation’s biggest risk, yet such is the nature of risk in general, that they should also be considered the greatest source of opportunity.

Those organisations that accept this challenge and lead social change will succeed – those that don’t will find it difficult.

Moving Beyond Human Capital To Human Assets

In recent years, organisations have been concerned with what they refer to as their human capital – the quality and capability of the people they employ. While there is no question that they should be so concerned, this sets an artificial boundary as to what constitutes an organisation.

Organisations are part an parcel of the human and social fabric of our societies and our lives. They employ vast numbers of people, they provide goods and services to large numbers of people, and their actions be they good, bad or indifferent impact and influence us all. The cars we drive, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the gifts we give and even the places we travel to, are all in a large part governed or significantly influenced by the impact of organisations on our lives. That holds true whether we like it or not.

The activities of NGOs, consumer groups, and corporate bloggers, as well as the fact that organisations themselves are increasingly engaged in what they call Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR are nothing more than the symptoms of this.

Therefore, within an organisational context, any assessment of its human capital must of necessity go beyond its traditional frame of reference to what I call the human asset stage.

The human asset approach recognises that organisations are nothing more than a network of employees, clients, suppliers, investors, and the wider community. Within this context, they can recognise that optimising the value of each asset segment is critical to optimising the value of the entire network –maintaining the quality of the human and social fabric by maintaining social harmony.

Thus, organisations should move beyond human capital to measuring and assessing their human assets.