Sadly, it seems the words of Lord Acton, the 19th century moralist and historian, are too frequently accurate: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

There is plenty of evidence in the news recounting the ethical breaches of well-known public figures in all walks of life. From Tiger Woods giving himself permission to not withdraw from the Masters after an illegal drop, to the currently unfolding Bloomberg snooping scandal on Wall Street, it seems that ethical breaches are rampant in our culture.

In fairness, it must be noted that honesty rarely makes headlines. Even so, what do ethical scandals tell us about the ways in which we conduct “business as usual”?

One of the things we know is that the higher up an individual is in an organization (or, in the case of entertainment or sports figures), the less likely it is that that individual will be called out for ethical lapses. Generally, it’s only when the situation approaches scandalous notoriety, that the person is called to account.

Even more disturbing, studies show that the higher up in an organization an individual is, the more likely he or she is to condone ethical lapses in their colleagues, or to engage in ethical lapses themselves.

It seems there is something about power that gets people into trouble – and gets companies into trouble.

Yet unless it becomes a problem, many companies ignore ethical lapses, big and small, that happen every day. And this is a huge mistake.

Ethical breaches of individual employees or executives pose a problem for organizations because such conduct sends the message that ethics take a backseat to profits. Allowing this sort of message to go unchecked and unchallenged creates considerable risk exposure for companies and organizations. And, thanks to the ubiquitous presence of social media, bad news can spread with the speed of a lightning strike.

The fact is that companies that do not asses their risk due to lapses in ethical conduct, or who ignore their risk, pay a higher price when (not, “if”) such lapses become public.

One of the ways organizations can guard against misdeeds occurring is to put stronger safeguards in place. A clear statement of the business results the company is seeking and the acceptable methods by which they can be obtained, is a good start.

But ultimately, it is the leader’s responsibility to demonstrate behaviors that correspond with honesty and integrity. I believe it is a leader’s job to act in ways that support trust, fairness, and openness.

If we all tried to be the kind of leader we would want to follow, many of the problems we’re experiencing with ethical breaches in our organizations would be eliminated.

Do you think we need to address ethical issues, or should we just continue doing “business as usual”?

In 1909 (so the story goes), an American businessman was lost in a dense London fog. As he stumbled about in the gloom, a young boy appeared and offered to lead the American back to his hotel.

The grateful Chicago businessman, publisher William D. Boyce, followed the boy through the English streets to his destination. But when Boyce tried to tip his young benefactor, the boy refused the tip, saying that, as a Scout, he was just doing his duty.

Intrigued, Boyce followed up on this thing called “Scouting” and was so impressed by what he found out that he returned to America inspired.

And so it was that, on February 8, 1910, Boyce filed papers for an American organization focused on teaching self-reliance, citizenship, resourcefulness, patriotism, obedience, cheerfulness, courage, and courtesy in order “to make men”. This is the organization we know today as “The Boy Scouts of America”.

As you probably also know, the Boy Scout motto is, “Be Prepared”. It’s a motto that is useful for everyday life, and especially in business. Because businesses face more challenges today, than at any decade since the 1930s.

The challenges we face are not just the economy. We also have to know how to identify and respond quickly and efficiently to a changing marketplace, new demands on the workforce, and new ways of delivering products and services.

These are conditions that separate real service providers from the pretenders. It’s no longer enough to present a big, glossy facade. You must deliver – and deliver what you promise – in order to survive, if not thrive, in today’s business environment.

Yet, repeatedly, we hear about big relocation service providers who are anything but “prepared” and who fail to deliver. Most, if not all, of these companies have something in their mission statement about being customer-centric. But how can a company be truly “customer-centric” if they aren’t “prepared” to meet their client’s needs and deliver on their promises?

At NRI Relocation, we believe delivering what we promise – “outstanding service, move after move, with no exception” – must mean more than just words. That’s why we make a point of empowering our staff to “Be Prepared” to meet every challenge a corporate relocation project might present. With ongoing training, our team stays up-to-date on developments in real estate, talent retention, and corporate relocation.

Our emphasis on preparing our team to meet challenges, seek timely solutions, and deliver on our promises seems to be working for us. Because our clients tell us again, and again, how much they appreciate our responsiveness and willingness to further to make their lives easier. (And we never get tired of hearing it!).

Personally, I’d like to see more companies (not just in corporate relocation) make more of an effort to be prepared to serve their clients and customers better. Should more businesses adopt the Boy Scout motto? What do you think?

King’s best known speech is the one everyone refers to as his “I Have a Dream” speech. If you haven’t listened to this speech since your school days, I urge you to take a few minutes to refresh your memory. Because while this speech is an impressive example of classic rhetoric, it also provides several insights into the qualities of a great leader. And no matter where you are in your career, there are key lessons for us all. (You can read the full transcript here)

Great leaders face reality. King made this speech at a critical point in the civil rights movement. While some progress had been made, key gains had not been achieved. A lesser leader would have leaned heavily on painting a rosy picture, but Dr. King did not pull any punches. He faced the facts and relayed the reality of the situation to his supporters. Referring to Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, he acknowledged,

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”

Great leaders engage minds and hearts. There is a difference between offering information and offering inspiration. Information satisfies our need to justify our decisions, but inspiration fires us to take action. This speech has many examples of King’s ability to inspire with metaphor and story, such as when he said,

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

Great leaders are active, not reactive. One of the defining characteristics of great leaders is that they refuse to accept the status quo. They refuse to wait for others to chart a destiny for them. And they don’t wait for circumstance to trap them into a limited path of response. They are not passive; they are active. Even as they accept, they do not acquiesce to their circumstances. Dr. King said:

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Great leaders ask for, and expect, the highest and best from those they lead. It would have been easy for the civil rights movement to abandon peaceful protest and resort to violence. Goaded by water hoses, arrests, and physical attacks, some people did. However, an astonishing majority of protesters kept to King’ injunctions to stay peaceful and to not return violence with violence.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”

Great leaders acknowledge the work of those they lead. Great leaders notice  effort and dedication. And they recognize and affirm the work and sacrifices of those who do the hands-on, day-to-day work of building an organization or cause.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecutions and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”

Great leaders paint a vivid picture of a better tomorrow. Leaders must have a clear and concrete vision of their goal and purpose. They must be able to articulate that vision and never get tired of helping their followers see what they see.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

As I said at the start of this post, this speech has many timeless leadership lessons, packed into eighteen short minutes. Listen to it carefully, and it may change the way you think about leadership.

The newly-passed fiscal legislation eliminates much of the uncertainty on tax rates. Under the new legislation some payroll and income deductions will change, and if your company is planning on relocating employees this year, these are some of the items to consider for your corporate relocation checklist:

- The exclusion of mortgage debt forgiveness on principal residences for one year is extended through 2013. This is an important provision that has permitted many transferees to work with their lender on a “short sale” without having to pay taxes on their unpaid mortgage balance. NRI Relocation, Inc. offers corporate relocation assistance and consulting to help transferees navigate this complicated process.

- The deduction for mortgage insurance and the deductions for state and local sales taxes are also extended for 2012 and 2013. They had expired after 2011.

- Tax rates will remain the same for all taxpayers except those with taxable income of $400,000 ($450,000 for married couples filing jointly), whose rate will rise from 35% to 39.6% for income over those thresholds, and whose tax rate on capital gains will increase from 15% to 20%.

- The legislation does not include an extension of the payroll tax relief that had temporarily reduced the employee portion of the FICA tax from 6.2% to 4.2%. Consequently, payroll taxes (and gross-up for companies that gross up for FICA) will go up. However, phase outs of itemized deductions and personal exemptions, including those related to corporate relocation expenses, will be reinstituted for those with taxable income over $250,000 ($300,000 married filing jointly). These thresholds are indexed for inflation after 2102, so that they will rise along with other income brackets.

- For payroll departments, the vast majority of transferees will be unaffected by the higher rates, and companies will be able to continue to compute withholding and gross-up for those transferees as in the past. Our Expense Management services help payroll departments ensure that gross-ups and payroll reporting are accurate and fully IRS compliant.

- The new legislation also permanently fixed the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Exemption amounts will be raised to $50,600 for singles and $78,750 for married taxpayer filing jointly in 2012, and will then be indexed for inflation so that the exemptions (as well as other relevant thresholds in the AMT) will rise along with inflation after 2012. As a result, there will be no need for annual “fixes,” and companies and employees will have additional certainty as to whether the AMT will apply from year to year.

I guess we can all breathe a sigh of relief for that!

NRI Relocation offers Tax Assistance services to help your company keep your relocation plan and policies tax compliant. We’ll also help you maximize benefits, and minimize costs, all while tailoring relocation policies to accommodate your company culture.

Give us a call at: 1-800-598-8887 to explore your options with us.

Like this NYC police officer who used his own money to buy boots for a homeless man, we can find opportunities to help our communities through company giving programs.

the media, here’s the story:

On a frigid November night, a young NYC police office was walking his Times Square beat when he saw a barefoot, homeless man sitting on the cold sidewalk. The officer, Larry DePrimo, was so concerned that he shelled out $75 of his own money to buy insulated boots and warm socks for the man.

A tourist took this photo of DePrimo helping the man and the photo went viral. By the time DePrimo got off his shift that night, that photo had been shared by hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

It’s easy to see why: with this simple act of giving, this young officer showed us that opportunities for compassion and kindness are all around us, even when we’re on the job.

It’s a sentiment that so many of us can identify with, yet we sometimes forget that each of us, as individuals, can influence others and spark the spirit of giving. In Charleston, S.C., a travel agent rounded up her co-workers to sign up for the Christmas gift program with a local charity organization.

Giving can even get you some free publicity. A newspaper in Reno, NV, is planning to devote a special section of its December 16th edition to showcasing local companies who give back to their community.

Generosity is good for business, too. Corporations have discovered that involving their employees in corporate giving programs has an unexpected side benefit of improving employee morale.

And you don’t have to be big to make a difference. The National Federation of Independent Businesses found that giving back to their communities matters to small businesses, too.

One of the achievements NRI is proud of is to have been recognized by Companies That Care (CTC). CTC is a nonprofit organization established to honor companies that have distinguished themselves not only by success in their industry but also by the commitment they have made to improving the quality of life in their communities. Of course we’re honored to have been recognized, but part of NRI’s company spirit has always been to try to touch lives personally, as well as professionally.

I’m always moved by how enthusiastically NRI’s employees take time out of their own lives to support our annual company charity drive. Every year, with the input from our employees, NRI chooses a local nonprofit to support. This year, we chose the Northern Illinois Food Bank as our charity for this holiday. Our employees put forth several charities to consider that were close to their heart – arthritis, troops, homeless, and food. The Food Bank was chosen by committee as it touches everyone – those with arthritis, military and the homeless.

We decided to kick off our fundraiser with our very own “Soup Kitchen”. Everybody pitched in to make seven different kinds of yummy soups, and lots of homemade baked goods including bread, muffins, brownies, and cookies. We added soda and water, and NRI employees purchased their lunch that day from the “Soup Kitchen”!

Not only was the food delicious, but every purchase was a painless – and a fun way to donate to the Food Bank.

We’re hoping to raise at least $750 by December 14th. through a raffle for an iPad, and by purchasing an entire week to “Dress Down” in January.  If we can reach our goal, the Food Bank can give the gift of 5,250 meals with our donation!

I would love to hear what you, or your company plan to do, or are doing, during this holiday season. Leave a comment here and tell us about it!

Take the Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, for instance. On Thursday, Bolt lived up to his nickname “Lightning Bolt” as he flashed to the front of the field in the 200 meters, leading his teammates to a 1-2-3 sweep of the podium. The win also made Bolt is the first man to win gold in the 100 meters and the 200 meters at consecutive Olympics.

Watching this 6 ft, 5 in, superbly fit athlete on the track, it may not seem unusual that such an imposing figure could dominate his competitors. But height and strength alone do not make an Olympic champion, or a team leader. Someone had to recognize Bolt’s potential, and cultivate it.

The result is the greatest sprinter the world has ever known.
It seems to that may of the same concepts that go into recognizing the qualities that identify a potential Olympic champion, could be used to identify potential candidates for key company positions.

Jamaican sprinters dominate the track because their senior staff makes it a priority to identify promising runners, and build a pipeline of high-potential Olympic athletes. Rather than relying on a single superstar, the true competitive advantage of the Jamaicans in track is their system for spotting talent and developing promising candidates.

Talent management goes beyond the art of delegation. Talent development, especially the development of potential leaders, cannot be delegated. The ideal is to have team members who become “leader-managers”.

Usain Bolt is such a “leader-manager”. At training camp, the Olympic champion is noted for being helpful and encouraging to the up-and-coming sprinters on the team. Indeed, his nearest rival, and the man most likely to take his crown, is his training partner and friend, Yohan Blake – an athlete who Bolt has been instrumental in bringing along.  In turn, Blake, too, models the qualities that Bolt has demonstrated to him: passion, dedication, and hard work.

The Jamaicans nurture their talent pool – and companies can do the same by applying a few solid principles when seeking or evaluating candidates with “leader-management” potential.

When I look at a candidate, these are the things I believe will help my company develop a competitive advantage:

- Functional Impact: What has she done that demonstrates resourcefulness, practical intelligence, and a managerial ability to get things done? Does she leverage the skills of other people and the systemic capabilities of the firm to achieve goals? Has she done this more than once? Is there a pattern of accomplishments that allow attributing to her a potential to replicate this level of performance across situations and over time?

- Intellectual Ability: Has he demonstrated a capacity to deal with complex issues intelligently and adaptively? In our business of corporate relocation, the ability to function effectively in conditions of ambiguity and operate under the stress of time pressures is particularly important. Has he demonstrated insight, a capacity to maintain composure, deal with key personnel, and produce a positive outcome?

- Personal Integrity: Because we are a small, tightly-connected company, this is an important component for us: What has she done that demonstrates authenticity, strength of character, and a capacity to acknowledge vulnerabilities and form constructive interdependencies with others? Did she initiate this integration towards team-building, or was she driven into this openness and collaboration by others or by circumstances? If she initiated collaboration, how were her actions and attitudes received, and what practical effect resulted?

- Emotional Intelligence: This is another critical hiring component for NRI, because we are in a business of people. Has he demonstrated a capacity to appreciate the feelings and concerns of others, to empathize with their values, concerns, and point of view, and to validate others without compromising mission-critical objectives? Has he demonstrated an ability to win others over, and to sustain the trust of peers over time? How has he used this skill to repair ruptures in relationships and align forces to meet a common goal?

- Communication Skills: In corporate relocation, open, clear, and effective communication is critical. Can she communicate with a diverse set of stakeholders in order to a) gain mutual understanding and b) exercise influence? How has she demonstrated this ability? What techniques has she used to deal with frustration, anger, defensiveness in peers and team members? Has she shown that she can break down barriers, and create open dialogue? Has she been able to motivate and inspire others to create change?

Using these criteria, as well as certified skill qualifications, NRI has been able to develop a tightly-run, high-impact corporate relocation team that delivers a quality of service that surpasses that of companies many times larger than we are.

What qualities does your company value in a candidate? How do you look to build your pipeline of “Olympic” leaders?

I’d love to hear what you think! Leave me a comment below, or email me at:
sbender@nrirelocation.com

Unless you live in a cave, you’re familiar with the plethora of “competition” reality tv shows that dominate today’s primetime schedules.

From “Survivor” to “The Bachelor” to “The Apprentice”, the plot arc is pretty much the same: a number of “contestants” compete against each other to be the last man – or woman – standing. In the reality tv world, the winner takes all, and is ruthlessly determined to get the win, no matter the social or moral cost.

For example, “The Apprentice” is all about watching people argue and lie while they covet money and success above all else. The focus is on getting the job done; how objectives are achieved is much less important.

In business, fostering this kind of culture means that power becomes central, and people and teams seek to dominate – not collaborate – to acquire and use power. And while competitive cultures can be effective when unpleasant decisions have to be made, such cultures inevitably lead to less collaboration, transparency, and creativity.

In fact, competitors on these shows are fond of saying, “I’m only here to win; I’m not here to make friends.”

These shows are often held up as examples of how to succeed in life, leadership, and business. Lying, cheating, bullying and other anti-social behaviors are mostly ignored. And, if you watch any given episode of “The Apprentice”, “Top Chef”, or “Survivor”, for example, you’ll hear a lot of advice about how to lead. But are the personal qualities of the winners of these shows really the kinds of qualities we want in our employees?

I hope not. Why?

Let’s begin with how competition is used in these shows. Now, I’m all for healthy competition but on reality tv, competition is used as a cheap, motivating tactic, with all its disruptive side effects. Typically, one or two people are asked to lead a team in a challenge task against another team. The losing team has to decide to send someone home (who usually ends up being a team leader).

This part pretty much mirrors the expectations of the business world: create a team, establish objectives, delegate specific project areas to team members, monitor and follow through on execution and performance, and accept responsibility for performance.
But, as in so many things, the devil is in the details. And, on reality tv, those details almost always involve bickering, backstabbing, lying, and conniving your way to the top.
The message here is that the best way to succeed in business is to be the kind of employee or leader who embodies the exact opposite of every value businesses say they hold dear: honesty, loyalty, cooperation, and teamwork.

And what disturbs me the most is that these shows are increasingly held up as examples of how to get ahead in today’s business world. At best, this theory is a misguided message. At worst, it’s a message that is deeply problematic for the health of a company.

Today’s organizations, assuming they are not one-person shops, work on a matrixed structure that requires complex negotiated collaborations between many people with diverse strengths and skill sets. Companies today have the tough job of having accountability for delivering bottom-line results while relying on people and resources that may not report to them to deliver on performance.

This means that everyone – everyone – involved with the organization, should be working together willingly, and with a shared vision of the greater purpose.

(Hard to do if your employees are focused on backstabbing and scheming against their fellow employees…)

Furthermore, in an environment of distrust and disloyalty, how does a company create future leaders from within its workforce? If the message is that you succeed in business by not creatively and transparently collaborating resources – if all that matters is the “I” in “WIN” – then who leads our companies into the world of the future?

Organizational matrix structures exist because company structures based on function or product or geography alone can’t bring resources together swiftly enough, or creatively enough, to identify and meet changing market opportunities, or solve market challenges. Leaders rarely have complete control over the resources they need, yet they inevitably share accountability with their team for performance.

This means that the more you have people who can mobilize others to share a vision, create shared organizational goals, and identify challenges and solutions, the better off your organization is to meet the future.

Leaders in this kind of business environment must possess honesty, courage, loyalty, and patience – all the qualities that reality tv mocks and disparages.

But in the Real World, as opposed to reality tv, the rules of success and reward are different. The contestants on the reality shows are rewarded for showing their worst side. How do you reward your employees, colleagues, and peers in your company?

Children's books can contain valuable lessons for motivating and empowering employees.

When my first niece was born (more years ago than I care to remember), one of my first gifts to her was “Where The Wild Things” Are by Maurice Sendak. “Where The Wild Things Are” was the start of her love affair with his books, and she eventually accumulated every one of his works as a part of her budding library.

So like millions around the world, my niece and I were both saddened to hear that, at the age of 83, Maurice Sendak had died.

He left behind him an impressive legacy of books that were hugely popular with both children and adults. And while a lot of children’s literature tends to follow safe, well-scrubbed formulas, the world Sendak’s children inhabited was a world of adventure, uncertainty, and fear of the unknown.

The drawings that illustrated his books were the same. The monsters were darkly scary, with lots of spines, and scales, and very, very big pointy teeth. They threatened to eat, and tear, and destroy little children in a number of horrific ways – and you believed every one.

His stories, too, drew on the dark and scary things that inhabit children’s imaginations. In Sendak’s books, the world didn’t always make sense, and what you believed didn’t always turn out to be real. And the children in Sendak’s books were complex creatures, with rich emotional lives and a capacity for both good and bad.

What made Sendak’s work so groundbreaking was its refusal to pander to children, and its brutal honesty. He believed that children, even very young children, should not be denied truth in the assumption that they wouldn’t be able to fully understand or fully comprehend, or that doing so was protecting them. He believed that children were able to face the dark corners, where the wild things are, and make empowering decisions about what course of action to take.

And it occurred to me that, so often, the executive suite treats rank-and-file employees as though they were children who need to be “protected” from harsh realities, or who are incapable of understanding the elements making a difficult decision.

Interestingly, office gossip being what it is, employees usually know when there’s a looming problem; they know when there’s a monster lurking close by. And not having any input, instead of making them feel “protected”, tends to make employees feel helpless and powerless.

So, taking a page out of one of Sendak’s books, one company decided to pull the monsters out of the dark corner, and let their employees help them figure out what to do.

Like so many companies, data storage giant EMC had to decide where to make cost-cutting measures. Most companies would have left top management to decide where to make the cuts, but EMC tried something different. Using their social media platform called EMCIOne, they asked their employees to tell management where cuts could be made.

Thousands of employees logged on and pointed out existing inefficiencies that, it turned out, their bosses were unaware of. In the end, the cuts that were made were less painful because employees felt they had some input, and the decisions were better for the company’s overall future.

Chances are you work in an organization that typically makes top-down decisions. How different would the process look if everyone participated in critical, life-changing decisions?

In “Where The Wild Things Are”, probably Sendak’s most famous book, young Max goes on an adventure where “the walls became the world all around”. What would happen if managers, like Sendak, decided to trust their employees and let the walls become the world all around?

But it seemed to me that, if you do “business as usual”, all you’ll get is the usual business. I always thought there was a greater link between employee morale and the bottom line, but it was more of a gut feeling, rather than anything formal. Nevertheless, I set about incorporating my ideas into the culture of NRI anyway, on the premise that “It may not help, but it certainly can’t hurt” to have happy employees.

Interestingly, our results at NRI fall right in line with those revealed in an interesting presentation on TED given by Bloomington psychologist Shaw Achor.

 Achor is the CEO of Good Think Inc., where he researches and teaches about positive psychology, particularly as it relates to the workplace. In his TED talk, Achor suggests that old ideas about workplace happiness (that when work makes us happy we will be more productive) should be the other way round.

 Instead, he suggests that if we come to work already happy, we will be more productive, we will be happier and more productive at work.

 The secret, Achor says, is to cultivate a positive mindset outside of work – and productivity and profit will follow.

 The concept isn’t entirely new. There’s been about a decade of research now that shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level—productivity, creativity, engagement—improves.

 In turn, those results have led workplace psychologists to assume that success makes people happy, and that companies that focus on their energies on rewarding success will have happier (and therefore more productive) employees.

 By itself, this assumption isn’t surprising: research has consistently revealed that those things we value having in our society (marriage, a comfortable income, health, friends, meaningful work) are correlated with levels of reported happiness.

 But Achor suggests that happiness may be the most misunderstood driver of performance. For one, he points out, most people believe success precedes happiness. “I’ll be happy once I get that promotion”, or “A 15% raise would really make me happy”, or “If I make my sales target, I’ll be happy”.

 In fact, Achor says, we’ve been looking at happiness as the result of success when, instead, success is the result of happiness.

 In one case study with KPMG in New York and New Jersey, in 2008, Achor worked with tax managers to see if he could help them become happier. Achor first evaluated two groups of managers, a study group and a control group, on their general sense of well-being. How engaged were they? Were they depressed? Did they feel satisfied with their work?

 The study group was then asked to choose one of these five activities that correlate with positive change:

•  Jot down three things they were grateful for.
• Write a positive message to someone in their social support network.
• Meditate at their desk for two minutes.
• Exercise for 10 minutes.
• Take two minutes to describe in a journal the most meaningful experience of the past 24 hours.

 The study participants performed their activity every day for three weeks. After the study was over, both groups were re-evaluated, using the same criteria as before. On every measurement on the life satisfaction scale (generally accepted to be a good predictor of productivity) the study group scored 5 or more points higher than the control group.

 Just doing one thing differently changed the way these managers felt about work, and how they did their business. But to achieve these positive results, they had to “do it differently”.

 So often, companies get stuck in a rut of always looking at things for the same direction, doing things the same way, using the same resources which they’ve always used – even though times, and the company’s needs have changed.

 On sales calls, I’ve certainly seen and heard this reluctance to “create happiness” by choosing to look for the features in a relocation program or relocation service provider that will make happiness an effortless “habit” for both the company and their transferees.

 Instead, sometimes companies choose to keep doing “business as usual” simply because they’ve always done it that way. With partners who – while they are predictable – no longer serve their needs. And no longer bring them happiness.

 And when you think about it, you can’t really get much more conservative in your approach to business than a firm of accountants. So, if KPMG found that going with a fresh, innovative approach positively affected their bottom line, what do you think doing the same could do for your company?

That’s pretty elementary stuff. But do employees really need to be happy, in order to perform well? Is a happy workplace a business necessity, or an employee perk?

Do businesses gain any hard, quantifiable advantages if they pay attention to employee happiness?

These are questions that are being explored more and more by workplace psychologists. And the information they’re uncovering may make Friday afternoon company pizzas obsolete.

Even if you believe that the only point of a business is to make money, you must still look after the happiness of your people, simply because studies show that happy employees will make you more money!

A 2010 report by Hewitt Associates found that companies with high levels of “happiness” or engagement (65% or greater) in their employees, outperformed the total stock market index. On average, these companies posted shareholder returns 19% higher than the average in 2009.

On the other hand, companies with “unhappy” or disengaged employees (40% or less engagement), had an average total shareholder return of 44% less than the rest of their market.

Similar results were reported by Alex Edmans, a Wharton professor. In his 2008 paper, Does the Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and Equity Prices.  He used a value-weighted portfolio of Fortune magazine’s list of the best companies to work for in America in 1998. By the end of 2005, this portfolio had earned over twice the market return while also outperforming industry benchmarks.

So, according to the research, it seems that having happy employees gives a company a distinct competitive advantage in the marketplace. This information supports what we at NRI have believed all along – a great workplace is the foundation of a successful business. 

True, there was a time when employee happiness did not necessarily translate to the bottom line. When our economy was based more heavily on manufacturing, workers on an assembly line had fairly simple and limited tasks to complete. This meant that they were easy to train, and easy to replace.

Today’s workers, even those in manufacturing, have had the complexity of their work tasks increase. Computers and software are used at all levels of employment, and require training that ranges from very simple, to very complex.

It is no longer as easy to replace one worker with another. Today it is quite costly to recruit, train, and onboard a new hire. Keeping employees happy and engaged, particularly with respect to top talent, has become a key component in outpacing the competition. A happy workplace is not a business luxury, but a distinct contribution to the bottom line.

That conclusion won’t surprise anyone whose primary work tasks them to deal with people, especially with people under stress. In corporate relocation, we’re used to dealing with people stressed by many aspects of the relocation process: both the logistics and the emotional aspects of leaving the familiar for the unknown.

We’re also familiar with how much performance and focus improve when most, if not all, of that stress is relieved and reallocated to relocation professionals.

If it doesn’t surprise us, it’s because our experience has shown us that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level – productivity, creativity, and engagement – improves significantly.

What we’ve found at NRI, is that at heart, people want to do good work, and they want to be engaged in their work. And if happy employees will make you more money… then it’s just good business!