The first H of H.E.A.L.T.H.Y career^TM is for HEART. HEART captures our need for our work and our business to connect with us in some way. If you’ve got a business, then this represents your core reason for existing and your values. This is your HEART. It can be your U.S.P. and make you irresistible to customers and employees alike, if you know how to distill it, communicate it and live it.

What is a H.E.A.L.T.H.Y career?

A H.E.A.L.T.H.Y career^TM is a campaign focused on reducing the levels of burn-out, imposter syndrome and superwoman syndrome that we see around us today.  As individuals we all deserve to have a fulfilling, rewarding career which improves our health, not deteriorates it. As businesses, cultivating an environment which offers a H.E.A.L.T.H.Y career^TM will only do good things to your bottom line. In this post we’ll look at the business side.

Take a look at this page to read more about H.E.A.L.T.H.Y career^TM in full.

What is the HEART of a business and why is it important?

I shared in the previous post (about HEART for an individual) the research that shows us why shared values and priorities are so important when we consider an employee’s happiness and motivation at work. But what is HEART when it comes to a business? Why should you bother about being able to express it?

50% of CEOs and CFOs in a US study said corporate culture influences productivity, creativity, profitability, firm value and growth rates.

If HEART is too soft a word or concept for you, then perhaps ethics, values or culture sit more comfortably.  It’s essentially the personality of your business. It can be quite an intangible thing and hard to pin down, which is why it’s often captured through a Vision, a Mission Statement, a set of Values and defined Behaviours. 

No matter what you call it, it is clear that it matters!  Research in the US of 1400 CEOs and CFOs showed that more than 50% said corporate culture influences productivity, creativity, profitability, firm value and growth rates. The Institute of Leadership & Management has also made the case for the importance of strong values connecting employees and businesses. In fact, the main point of this article was saying unfortunately how big a gap there often was between the two and how detrimental this is to both sides.

Kate Cooper from ILM says that creating shared values enables “staff to take ownership and genuinely live the company values that contribute to more motivated teams and better performance.”

It’s not just your products or services that need a USP.

As a business you need a unique selling point (USP) which will help you to attract and retain the best talent for your needs. Jo Cresswell, Community Expert at Glassdoor, one of the world’s largest job and recruiting sites, confirms that people are increasingly looking for a more meaningful workplace experience.

“They will thoroughly research a company before applying and want to work for a company whose values align with their own. We know from our research that 69 percent of UK adults would not apply to a company unless its values aligned with their own personal values. Employers that don’t recognise the importance of their corporate values are missing out on – or losing – talented staff.”

Jo Cresswell, Glassdoor

This applies even more directly for younger staff. There are numerous research studies which agree with that carried out by the ILM. This found that the twenty-somethings within organisations often don’t feel that their values are reflected by those of the older generations and they have no input into the creation of a company’s values as this is usually carried out by the senior teams with little collaboration.

How much do you engage the more junior end of your workforce in conversations about culture and values?

If you genuinely intend them to be the future of your business, how much do they feel a part of it?

To reap the rich rewards of engaged and motivated staff, increased creativity, improved profitability and growth, your business has to love its HEART.… Because a HEART which is ignored, trodden on or laughed at, is a broken HEART and no-one works well with one of those!

How does this form part of a H.E.A.L.T.H.Y career^TM?

The HEART of a business is an important way to stand out from the crowd and identify with certain types of people; be they customers or future and current employees.  

Being able to genuinely offer a H.E.A.L.T.H.Y career^TM to employees means being truthful about who you are as a business and what you stand for. An individual can then decide how good a fit he/she is for you.  

Being able to to distill and communicate the HEART in an engaging and meaningful way is important to make this good, first impression.  However, more important is a business’ ability to live by those values.  

To reap the rich rewards of engaged and motivated staff, increased creativity, improved profitability and growth, your business has to love its HEART. This means intertwining it amongst all its policies, shouting about it in meetings and bringing it through into all communications. Because a HEART which is ignored, trodden on or laughed at, is a broken HEART and no-one works well with one of those!

If you’d like some help in working out what the HEART of your business is and how to express it, communicate it and live it effectively, then just drop us line.

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