Abstract

Brave means being bold

Brave organizations are willing to be alternative

Brave companies voice their values and value their voice to make real change

Brave organizations put ethics above efficiencies

References

Brave means being bold

Taken right out of the dictionary, “bold” is defined as “Daring and courageous. Not fearing rebuff.” Fear is a powerful thing. It can make us do things we might not otherwise do, and it can make us NOT do the things we should be doing. We all have fears of some kind or another. How we deal with them is what is most important. Companies and businesses are no different. Organizational fears often stem from the fears of its leaders and can permeate the company culture. This could be a fear of implementing a new policy that sounds good on paper but the implementation has an unknown outcome. Or it could be avoiding a difficult issue because how you deal with it, or what you say, may come with some risk. For example, we know how important flexibility and specifically remote working have become to attracting and retaining the best talent. According Gallop’s 2017 State of the American Workplace, employees are demanding more autonomy and control over their working lives. More than half of those employees surveyed said that a role that provides greater work-life balance is “very important,” and that they would change jobs for one that offered them flexi-time. Even more compelling for employers, there is significant data to suggest flexibility and remote increases productivity and reduces costs and turnover: A Nationwide 2016 survey by Sure Payroll, a Web-based payroll provider for small businesses, found 86 per cent of those surveyed (2,060 professionals) indicated they were more productive when allowed to work remotely. Two-thirds of the managers surveyed indicated that their remote workers were more productive. Similarly, ConnectSolutions (now CoSo Cloud) found of 39 per cent who work remotely at least a few times per month, 77 per cent report greater productivity while working offsite with 30 per cent accomplishing more in less time and 24 per cent accomplishing more in the same amount of time. In total, 23 per cent are even willing to work longer hours than they normally would onsite to accomplish more, while 52 per cent are less likely to take time off when working remotely – even when sick.