.
On many levels, the global economic context is highlighting the limitations of our current growth model. Decades of streamlining and efforts to improve processes, methods, structures and expertise have left human reserves depleted. As the demands of the workplace keep rising, men and women are under ever-greater strain, hard-pressed to derive personal fulfillment from their jobs. Alongside this trend is a hesitant acknowledgment that consumerism alone is not enough to provide satisfaction, regardless of income level. Our modern economy, as many theorists have pointed out, has not managed to link growth to happiness. Societies and businesses everywhere are struggling to find new resources to generate more harmonious growth, growth that delivers not just value but also the personal fulfillment that should result from it.
The 20th century brought significant advances in technology and logistics, radically changing the ways developed nations meet the challenges of nutrition, employment, manufacturing, transportation, and medical care. Quantitative improvements brought about by science and engineering have made things cheaper, and processes faster and more efficient. However, in order to continue to improve the performance of collective spaces such as schools, companies, factories, prisons and hospitals, we must now turn our attention to the individuals within them.
In prisons, it’s no longer enough merely to guard prisoners; we need to create conditions favorable to their successful re-entry into society. Companies cannot continue to concentrate exclusively on producing goods and services at the expense of engaging and motivating talent. Instead of just diagnosing and treating illnesses, hospitals today have to create an environment that fosters comfort, dignity and psychological wellbeing throughout the course of a patient’s recovery. For schools and universities, as mobile devices and digital content make information accessible to everyone, it has become critical to provide a setting that motivates and enables students to learn.
The challenge everywhere is how to reconcile individual needs with the goals of organizations. At Sodexo, we consider Quality of Life to be a key and as yet largely unexplored factor in individual and collective performance. We believe that to create lasting value, organizations and society as a whole must place people at the center of their thinking.
We are convinced that a company performs better when it operates in a more human way, promoting both the professional and personal fulfillment of its employees. We think people, given the right environment and tools, are a powerful driving force capable of transforming today’s challenges into a multitude of opportunities. How can this be achieved? By improving Quality of Life.
Quality of Life is multi-dimensional: It means less waiting when visiting a parent at the hospital. It’s cleaner air that our children breathe at school. For someone on a long-term assignment on an offshore platform, it’s being able to reach out to family easily and regularly. It’s less stress in the workplace. It’s a healthier diet for healthier employees. It’s enabling individuals to connect with each other. Quality of Life is, in addition to being personal, a factor of performance for corporations, care facilities, public services, and society at large.
At work, Quality of Life means a motivating, safe, respectful and sustainable environment. It entails renewed corporate policies geared towards equality, diversity, intergenerational solidarity and inclusiveness. By promoting more agility and open-mindedness, it is also a critical asset for corporations undergoing transformation - as fast (and sometimes furious) momentum has become the rule.
Today, human beings represent the new frontier of performance. The decision to shift our focus back to men and women naturally stems from ethical considerations. But in this case, ethics shares the path with economics.
The future for the service-oriented sector - where people are central - is incredibly promising. Health, well-being, safety and collective efficiency are the watchwords of tomorrow. They will unlock the potential of a revitalized industry, capable of generating employment and social advancement for people with limited formal qualifications.
Technological expertise and organizational quality will continue to be major concerns for large corporations. But today, more than ever, the global competitiveness of a company depends on its ability to foster, develop and engage the collective and individual talents of its employees.
By focusing on men and women at all levels of the organization, companies become stronger and more appealing, and improved performance results. Quality of Life will not only be an outcome of their success but a fundamental component of it. Ultimately, global corporations are poised to play a central role by setting an example on how to operate, across all regions of the world.
Of course, recognizing the importance of individual welfare cannot be restricted to the corporate sphere alone. It must also lead to new perspectives in public policy by encouraging a more human-oriented economy and a new model for growth. For many nations the immediate priorities are fighting hunger, disease and poverty. In emerging countries, soaring double-digit growth has given hope to millions of people as they discover the consumer society from which they were excluded in the 20th century.
This “new frontier” is perhaps the furthest ahead. It is also the least equitably shared. Does this observation lead us to question the scope of our ambition? On the contrary, it reinforces our deeply held conviction that future growth must rely on and benefit humanity, and that improving individual Quality of Life is the way to achieve this.
Michel Landel is Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo Group. The editorial was originally published in the G7 Summit Special Print Edition of Diplomatic Courier this June.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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Quality of Life: The New Frontier of Performance
Business Commuters Walking Home After Work, Sunset Backlit
June 13, 2015
On many levels, the global economic context is highlighting the limitations of our current growth model. Decades of streamlining and efforts to improve processes, methods, structures and expertise have left human reserves depleted. As the demands of the workplace keep rising, men and women are under ever-greater strain, hard-pressed to derive personal fulfillment from their jobs. Alongside this trend is a hesitant acknowledgment that consumerism alone is not enough to provide satisfaction, regardless of income level. Our modern economy, as many theorists have pointed out, has not managed to link growth to happiness. Societies and businesses everywhere are struggling to find new resources to generate more harmonious growth, growth that delivers not just value but also the personal fulfillment that should result from it.
The 20th century brought significant advances in technology and logistics, radically changing the ways developed nations meet the challenges of nutrition, employment, manufacturing, transportation, and medical care. Quantitative improvements brought about by science and engineering have made things cheaper, and processes faster and more efficient. However, in order to continue to improve the performance of collective spaces such as schools, companies, factories, prisons and hospitals, we must now turn our attention to the individuals within them.
In prisons, it’s no longer enough merely to guard prisoners; we need to create conditions favorable to their successful re-entry into society. Companies cannot continue to concentrate exclusively on producing goods and services at the expense of engaging and motivating talent. Instead of just diagnosing and treating illnesses, hospitals today have to create an environment that fosters comfort, dignity and psychological wellbeing throughout the course of a patient’s recovery. For schools and universities, as mobile devices and digital content make information accessible to everyone, it has become critical to provide a setting that motivates and enables students to learn.
The challenge everywhere is how to reconcile individual needs with the goals of organizations. At Sodexo, we consider Quality of Life to be a key and as yet largely unexplored factor in individual and collective performance. We believe that to create lasting value, organizations and society as a whole must place people at the center of their thinking.
We are convinced that a company performs better when it operates in a more human way, promoting both the professional and personal fulfillment of its employees. We think people, given the right environment and tools, are a powerful driving force capable of transforming today’s challenges into a multitude of opportunities. How can this be achieved? By improving Quality of Life.
Quality of Life is multi-dimensional: It means less waiting when visiting a parent at the hospital. It’s cleaner air that our children breathe at school. For someone on a long-term assignment on an offshore platform, it’s being able to reach out to family easily and regularly. It’s less stress in the workplace. It’s a healthier diet for healthier employees. It’s enabling individuals to connect with each other. Quality of Life is, in addition to being personal, a factor of performance for corporations, care facilities, public services, and society at large.
At work, Quality of Life means a motivating, safe, respectful and sustainable environment. It entails renewed corporate policies geared towards equality, diversity, intergenerational solidarity and inclusiveness. By promoting more agility and open-mindedness, it is also a critical asset for corporations undergoing transformation - as fast (and sometimes furious) momentum has become the rule.
Today, human beings represent the new frontier of performance. The decision to shift our focus back to men and women naturally stems from ethical considerations. But in this case, ethics shares the path with economics.
The future for the service-oriented sector - where people are central - is incredibly promising. Health, well-being, safety and collective efficiency are the watchwords of tomorrow. They will unlock the potential of a revitalized industry, capable of generating employment and social advancement for people with limited formal qualifications.
Technological expertise and organizational quality will continue to be major concerns for large corporations. But today, more than ever, the global competitiveness of a company depends on its ability to foster, develop and engage the collective and individual talents of its employees.
By focusing on men and women at all levels of the organization, companies become stronger and more appealing, and improved performance results. Quality of Life will not only be an outcome of their success but a fundamental component of it. Ultimately, global corporations are poised to play a central role by setting an example on how to operate, across all regions of the world.
Of course, recognizing the importance of individual welfare cannot be restricted to the corporate sphere alone. It must also lead to new perspectives in public policy by encouraging a more human-oriented economy and a new model for growth. For many nations the immediate priorities are fighting hunger, disease and poverty. In emerging countries, soaring double-digit growth has given hope to millions of people as they discover the consumer society from which they were excluded in the 20th century.
This “new frontier” is perhaps the furthest ahead. It is also the least equitably shared. Does this observation lead us to question the scope of our ambition? On the contrary, it reinforces our deeply held conviction that future growth must rely on and benefit humanity, and that improving individual Quality of Life is the way to achieve this.
Michel Landel is Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo Group. The editorial was originally published in the G7 Summit Special Print Edition of Diplomatic Courier this June.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
