The business culture is changing. What it means to be “doing business” is taking on a different meaning and can be felt in practically any organization. Employees are highly valued, “culture” is a buzzword thrown about the professional realm, and corporate reputation has a greater impact on consumer habits than it ever has.
Many of these changes can be credited to the demands of the incoming workforce, the influx of millennials to corporate (and non-corporate) America. The demands, habits and beliefs of this generation are shaping, not only their own business ventures, but are challenging others to take a step back and re-evaluate their business practices. After a fantastic talk by Monica Wheat of Digerati Girls at the Women in Business Conference, I was struck by her analysis of millennial women entrepreneurs. Wheat described how social consciousness is engrained in these women and that these beliefs inform their professional decisions.
Later in the conference, Andrew Yang, of Venture for America, discussed how the boundaries between work life and home life are continually fading…that the two worlds are becoming one…a permeable mix of professional and personal. Therefore, the values that once governed our private lives often spill into our work lives. Companies are not only being called to establish a set of values, but to establish ones that promote the fusion of business and self.
MOVE has taken this cultural cue and created a set of values that reflect the personal values of the owners as well as the employees. As a millennial myself, this value set was pivotal in my decision to work with MOVE. MOVE founds itself on:
- Ethical Interaction: “We express humility, integrity and discipline with customers, partners and employees.”
- Boundless Creativity: “We believe that everyone is creative. Our workplace gives each staff member the freedom to explore her/his ideas and, in turn, realize her/his full potential.
- Mindfulness: “When interacting with our clients or each other, we take the time to listen, to observe and to remain fully present, without judgment.”
- Servant Leadership: “We treat our employees as we would our customers. In other words, we give great service to our staff. We create an environment in which staff members can fulfill their dreams and realize their potential as fully participating members of the organization.”
- Balance: “Our employees have the flexibility to achieve their goals in both their work and home lives and, in turn, enrich their communities.”
- Diversity: “We embrace our differences – in our backgrounds, our politics, our viewpoints, our zip codes. We believe that these differences deepen our understanding of the world we work and live in.”
These values help to establish a culture that reflects our ideals as humans, and portrays MOVE as an advocate for creating a better work environment as well as a better world. Many companies are following similar trends and realizing that their core values should reflect core cultural trends based on decency and equality, which ultimately helps elevate the effectiveness of its employees. Most importantly, companies are beginning to live out their values and incorporate them into their culture instead of simply writing them down, putting them in a corporate binder, and storing them somewhere on a shelf. These types of trends are transforming business from a corporate machine into a living, breathing group of humans setting out to “do business” better. #MOVEahead
