Recently, World Blu CEO Traci Fenton wrote an op-ed piece entitled Democracy in the Workplace, where she lays out a compelling case for building a democratic organization.
In such organizations, information flows freely, everybody is a leader in a given context, transparency reigns, conversations and collaboration happen constantly, decision-making is decentralized, accountability is the order of the day, and the purpose for existing (beyond making money) is clear.
Companies that practice democracy in the workplace include GE’s Durham plant, which makes jet engines, W.L. Gore, makers of Gore-Tex, and Semco, a Brazilian concern that has businesses that range from shipping parts manufacturing to IT consulting.
Democracy in the workplace is the best way to create sustainable motivation in your employees. Give them control and choice, and if the proper organizational systems exist, their passion will drive the success of your business to greater heights.
Traci’s article expands on a simple formula that Eric and I believe to be true: give your people control, they will be happy, and your business will profit. Essentially, to grow a business over the long term, you need to create sustainable motivation in your employees–they must care as passionately as you do about their work.
In the coming months and years, we will explore the topic of sustainable motivation from many different angles.
The timing is right for this conversation to go mainstream: it is ironic that while never have so many people lived in a democratic society, most people work in conditions that often border on fascist. Meanwhile, technology is enabling information to get to where it’s needed, when it’s needed, opening up the possibility for democratized businesses. These are only two of the factors that are driving this conversation.
It is our hope to engage in this conversation with those interested in, skeptical of, and practicing workplace democracy to spread awareness to a broader audience that this is a more profitable and more sustainable way to do business.
So… we hope you enjoy the ride as much as we do!
3 responses so far ↓
Rodney North // Mar 4, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Note: I’ve had the pleasure of talking & corresponding w/Traci many times now since the publication of the afore-mentioned op-ed, and am hoping people pay attention to what she is saying.
And as “citizen” of a democratic workplace (a worker cooperative in Massachusetts - a state with a wee bit of a democratic pedigree) I know very well how very viable this model is.
But here I’d like to add that way beyond the matter of motivation there is the more profound matter that democracy is an end unto itself. When our forebearers were debating and crafting the Constitution they did do it so as to create a _motivated_ public, but rather because democracy, ie a shared form of collective self-determination and decision-making, is something we owe ourselves and one another.
kareem // Mar 13, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Democracy is an end unto itself, but I’m not convinced that, were it a less effective method of building a business than, say, a command-and-control model, that it would be something businesses ought to do. Society, yes. Businesses, no.
That said, it does appear that democracy in the workplace is an ultimately more profitable way to grow a business… so giddeyup!
Thanks for sharing, Rodney.
Kareem
Welcome Fast Company Readers! | Hidden Mojo // Apr 16, 2007 at 7:44 pm
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