Leaders Should Focus on Organizational Well-Being AND The Bottom Line

Achieving organizational well-being and adhering to the bottom line are not mutually exclusive. Organizational well-being is about providing a working environment that produces smarter, healthier and happier employees while at the same time enhancing the community around them. Common practice among many companies around the world have done the bare minimum to achieve the appearance of organizational well-being while really serving the bottom line exclusively. Strict adherence to the bottom line without regard to other factors will become less prevalent as workers will flock to companies that value their contributions and the old guard will be forced to adapt or lose significant market share. Leadership in various industries have already spearheaded this effort around the globe. Morten T. Hansen, Herminia Ibarra, and Urs Peyer examine this trend and identify several companies that are outperforming in both financial and social efforts. 

Many management thinkers argue that it is no longer enough to do well financially; companies also need to improve the well-being of (or at least not harm) the communities in which they operate, the environment, and their employees. (See, for example, “Creating Shared Value,” by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer.) That's the good news. The bad news is that stellar performance on both dimensions is no common or easy feat.

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Leadership at these companies are making a conscientious effort to innovate and ensure that their practices are serving their financial and organizational goals. We see that more and more companies are striving to achieve organizational well-being through community engagement, employee enhancement, and generous benefits/perks packages. This push toward a well-rounded workforce can, and often will, lead toward enhanced productivity which helps boost the bottom line. Hansen et al. have shown that this is no guarantee and that there is a spectrum of achievement as each company works towards optimizing both their organizational well-being and their bottom line.