Making Work Human

A new economy demands new ways of treating employees.

Hierarchical command-and-control structures under which managers monitored employee work, output, dress, language and behavior steadily disappeared over the course of the past 30 years. Today, most firms maximize productivity gains from efficiency and quality measures. Rather than attempt to contain human nature, they leverage it by creating human-centered environments designed to infuse work with purpose, meaning and belonging. Organizations compete on the depth, engagement and commitment of their workforce.

When employees experience unfair treatment, they can damage their company’s prospects with a few keystrokes on rating sites like Glassdoor. Bad reviews on social media do more than harm an organization’s ability to attract good talent. Consumers and clients may boycott or take other activist measures against organizations that don’t do right by their workers.

Employee engagement, continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration – the essential ingredients for success in today’s hyper-competitive and disruptive economy – suffocate under...