We always talk about employees developing to their fullest potential, holistic development, happiness quotients-which are all great parameters for any company to aim for. But where many companies often fail is when they try and achieve such qualitative goals through quantitative benchmarks-like ‘increase shareholder value’, ‘maximise profitability’.
Matthew Gonnering, CEO of Widen a marketing technology company urges corporate leaders to make a slight adjustment in the ‘focus of business’ by transforming workforce potential & work environments through empathy & compassion.
The 41-year-old CEO leads with Eudaimonia, a Greek term for personal happiness, health & prosperity. Talking about why companies should not only look at aspects that increase productivity of the force but also focus on how they nurture personal talents of employees, Gonnering who views himself as the Chief Eudaimonia Officer, explains “I need to figure out how to bring the happiness, health & prosperity of all these individuals together, both their professional skills & their unique talents.” In the very same TEDx talk where he stated the above, he explains how workforce diversity can really amplify the power of empathy at work.
He explains the unique correlation between growth in business and growth in people. By focusing on economic goals, companies are often inhabiting an unhappy & stressed out workforce which might not be sustainable. Gonnering believes that people can honour an alignment between growth & sustainability if they focus on aligning their career with life-experiences. He explains in an interview “A career is committing to continuous learning and growth. Instead of struggling to align your career with your life purpose, consider that your career will produce life experiences that reveal your purpose.”
5% of Widen’s workforce have developmental disabilities and Gonnering believes that if all companies want to truly encourage empathy in their workplace they’ll be keen to hire people with developmental disabilities who can truly teach their colleagues empathy. “The demand for people with developmental disabilities will be more significant than any other career function. We need 7 million people helping us combat this disturbing decline in empathy.” He mentions that only 1.8 million are available for the 7 million jobs due to the companies’ reluctance to embrace people with developmental disabilities.
Going back to performance metrics with which he began his TEDx talk, Gonnering talks about at how Widen started to understanding empathy & compassion by measuring dignity, integrity, and other wellness dimensions and found that an increase across the wellness-related measurements correlated with hiring people with developmental disabilities. Abolishing the idea of patronage or social good he says, “The measurements remind us that something is being given to us. Increasing our understanding of other people’s perspectives is necessary for us to advance in our potential”.
