This is not a brag post. I’ve just landed in Shanghai after being to Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka over the last 11 days. While this is the most strenuous work travel schedule, I’ve been through to date, it has helped me make some interesting observations that could help our productivity journeys, no matter where you are in the world.
There are two ideas I want to talk about based on my observations. The first is that as human beings, we are all the same internally. We are driven by the same needs; we get inspired by the same feelings and we buy into ideas the same way. It is the culture in each country/region that creates a different façade, that we see on the outside – language, social norms, values etc. When we penetrate this external layer, we communicate directly with the individual. Those of you who have travelled overseas and have been able to communicate and connect with individuals without a common language would understand this point very well.
The second idea is how surroundings and visuals that are similar to your home country, can evoke a sense of belonging. Even walking into an aircraft can make you feel ‘at home’ if it is the airline from your home country. This feeling of belonging builds a strong connection is useful when we are trying to engage with employees at a site level.
So, how do these ideas help us with our productivity journeys? One of the fundamental requirements of these journeys is to engage and connect with employees on the site’s 3–5-year strategic direction. If you’re familiar with Simon Sinek’s work will recognise this as ‘the why’.
Therefore, when you are trying to communicate and connect with your employees, particularly in countries like Australia where the workforce is highly diverse, find something that goes beyond the words, beyond the Boardroom strategy and beyond the corporate vision. Find something that the employees on your site would feel proud to be part of. What would evoke their feeling of belonging with the site specifically? When the ‘Why’ is strong, ‘the What and the How’ becomes easier.
What elements of historic, economic, geographic factors make your site unique? How can you bring factors these together to create a site-specific vision that employees would feel strongly connected to?
