A World where 'values' are 'valued' ... Investing in 'Good Jobs'

[February 22th 2022]

There's an age old saying that "employees are a companies most valuable asset" ... however for many these words are seen as sound-bites when the world around them seems to scream quite the opposite.

However the world is changing ... 'values' are becoming 'valued' and investors are starting to look at investment in companies in very different ways ... e.g. investing in companies which create 'Good Jobs' ... with a brilliant TED talk [by Warren Valdmanis] heralding the shift to a very different approach ...

I've included a few quotes from it below ... however I would fully recommend to anyone, with even a slight interest in investing and/or understanding where enterprise will be heading, to listen to the full speech (11 mins) ...

"We know that value at companies is driven by people, but we focus on short-term profit because it's so much easier to measure... I’ve worked in and around private equity for 25 years on six continents, and I've seen this error in thinking again and again and again ... and we are at risk of starving companies of the people that they need to be successful ..."

"... the big opportunity for investors, for executives and for you is to create rather than cut 'good jobs'. Creating 'good jobs' is now the focus of my work as a social impact investor ... we spent the last two years looking at all the academic research, interviewed human capital experts and surveyed workers across hundreds of companies ... and developed a common sense definition of 'a good job', one that correlates with worker productivity and helps us to build better companies ..."

"A 'good job' is where a worker, one, is fairly treated. Two, has a promising future. Three, feels psychologically safe, and Four, has a sense of purpose ..."

"... It's a lot easier to share and listen to others if you and your colleagues feel passionately about your work. But do you feel passionately about the idea of going to work each day for the sole purpose of maximizing shareholder value for investors you've never met? It's just not a very energizing idea. Humans, unlike machines, want to feel connected to a higher purpose. They want to feel proud and useful ..."

"... Creating good jobs isn't rocket science. These four conditions: fair treatment, a promising future, psychological safety and purpose are relatively easy to track and improve ... I believe with a better measure of 'good jobs' and the associated benefits, investors will support more investments in workers ... who wouldn’t want to create 'good jobs' if you're creating more valuable companies at the same time? ... our research shows that companies with a higher proportion of 'good jobs' grow faster and are more profitable. They attract better talent and are more innovative ... Investors ignore this issue at their peril because in today's economy, 'good jobs' aren't just good for society, they're good business".

The Good Turns Foundation's mission is highly aligned to this ideal ... with it's vision of seeing "a world where values are valued" ... and with it's mission of "creating a world where good is valued and people and communities thrive" ...

The main 'measures' the Good Turns Foundation is using are measures of 'good', doing good for others, for communities and the planet e.g. Good Points®, Volunteer Points®, Environment Points®. However the Foundation is also using measures such as Creative Points®, based on the definition of creativity in it's widest sense and being "the process of having original ideas that have value". These measures are all "measures of behaviour", not output, and they are supported by many more unique and meaningful measures which are part of the overall Good Turns® portfolio of measures too.

The world is changing at an ever increasing rate and the Good Turns Foundation is playing it's part in helping to create this future ... a better future ... a world where 'values' are 'valued' and people, communities (and enterprise) thrive!

David Clift, Founder of the Good Turns Foundation

© Good Turns Foundation 2022    [GTF22022022_01]