'The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.’ This quote by Leo Tolstoy conveys a lot; but in today’s highly competitive scenario, the question pertains to, whether we are encompassing traits of humanism in our work culture or not? A discussion addressing this concern was held by China Gorman, Director, Motivis Learning at the TechHR’16 Conference. 

Creating a culture based on humanity is vital and directly proportional to company’s success. Industry leaders who inspire humanity in their organizations trigger high employee performance leading to competitive advantage in the market. “Employees who say that their companies are a great place to work outperform in the market and as per data - they outperform five times more than their competitors,” says China Gorman from Motivis Learning.

Valuing culture of humanity, companies like Microsoft, TD Bank, Jet Blue and Reebok are using the term ‘humanity’ for branding so that they can establish better connection with people. “When advertising picks up a theme in the economy you know it is a real issue.  The focus on humanity rather than engagement is more important. Companies like Microsoft are using brand tags like – ‘More human way to go’, TD Bank in Canada is promoting on twitter with #bankhuman, Jet Blue airlines uses ‘Air on the side of humanity’ and Reebok- how ‘being more human’ helps you,” avers China.

A shift from engagement to humanity 

There is great need for a shift from engagement to humanity. Earlier, the focus was on strategy and competition, but today the dynamics have changed. Today, it is all about “how you treat people.” A company cannot be future-fit if the employees are not taken care of. Data show that business results are remarkable in organizations where they create environment and a culture that takes care of the happiness of employees.

China Gorman further elucidates, “My hypothesis is that engagement is the outcome of many things and not just one thing. Leaders, academicians and HR leaders focus on the wrong thing. I think it is not engagement. It is when you have a culture, where leaders are trusted and employees feel supported - they get meaning and purpose from what they do and the organization recognizes that the workforce is made up of individual human beings and not specific skill sets and need care and attention. If employers today relate to wholeness of human beings and not just skill sets, then we will be living in different world all together.”

People as assets 

Company's assets are generally divided into - tangibles and intangibles. Tangible assets are the ones you can touch: buildings, inventory, equipment, and financial resources. Intangible assets are the ones without a physical manifestation and they include intellectual property such as patents, trademarks and copyrights and human capital. “The bigger part of the intangible assets of the company is the people. I feel it is the people that really drive value of intangible assets in your company’s valuation. You need to think - how talent valuation, talent mobility, and a culture of talent development will make a difference in your organization,” explains China Gorman.  

Therefore, workforce of a company is of a far more worth than its tangible assets.