Beneath what seem to be trivial issues of national differences in food preferences are deeper, more serious questions. Over twenty-two percent of Americans are obese – at least 30 pounds overweight – compared to only seven percent of the French. Obesity is the cause of debilitating conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure, and various cancers. Think there might be a connection with our health care costs rising in double-digits every year?
The real insight is not the wonder of the French paradox – eating all that fatty food and wine while staying thin and healthy; it's not just what you eat but how much. Rather, it's the contradiction identified by the Penn researchers in their paper. They point out that serving and eating copious amounts of grub is our way of feeling loved; yet our Protestant ethic admonishes us at the same time. "If you eat the whole thing, you are a slob, even morally deficient." I call this compulsive, conflicted behavior the "American Conundrum." It's psychologically dysfunctional and physically unhealthy. Yet we can't seem to break ourselves free of its grip.
So what does this have to do with American business you ask? Plenty. Corporations are acting in a similarly damaging way and it's having the same effect on our national economic health. But instead of obesity, they suffer from a different eating malady – bulimia – a binge-starve pendulum that ultimately drains corporate health. During the boom years of the ‘90s we overstuffed ourselves on hiring staff, capital spending, stock options, corporate perks of every conceivable type - anything and everything we could throw money at. The binge is over and now we are overcompensating – obsessively cutting back headcount, making job hiring freezes indefinite, mandating huge across-the-board budget cuts, letting cobwebs grow on the spending coffers that fuel investment in new capability. This is the corporate equivalent of putting your finger down your throat. It is shortsighted behavior and we are starving our most precious resource – talent – in the process.
Employee resentment is simmering and about to boil over. Three years of continuing cutbacks have left the remaining workers stressed out and over-burdened. The workforce has changed dramatically – it consists overwhelmingly of knowledge and creative workers who are not motivated by the traditional corporate work experience and employment proposition. Money doesn't motivate them. Neither does advancement up the corporate ladder. They want to be engaged by the mission, the work, and the values of the organization. They want to learn, grow and get smarter. They demand leaders who inspire, teach, and value them. To get them to perform at peak you must engage their hearts as well as their minds.
Sound like the impossible? Think again. Companies who can't deliver these critical drivers of engagement and performance to their employees will find themselves not only struggling to recruit and retain the talent they need – they will be in a fight for their very lives. Now is the time for a new work environment and a different kind of leader. Now is the time for the Next Generation Company. Starting next week we will discuss each of the drivers of worker fulfillment and performance that drive success in the new world of talent. Next..... Making your mission meaningful.
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