A Modern Workplace Culture

Here’s an idea.

At the consumer point of purchase instead of clicking “Buy” or, handing the cashier a form of payment, the consumer signs a document pledging their commitment to support the brands and companies in their shopping cart. No money is exchanged, ever, for the goods or services they received. Let’s think of it as a pledge to purchase.

Whether or not this is a good idea depends on whether you’re the consumer or the brand. For consumers this idea is a hit. For marketers this idea is a financial nightmare. It would be pure bedlam for brands. A consumer’s signature does not contribute to a company’s bottom line and Wall Street doesn’t value pledges. In the end, the idea fails because there is no equitable exchange of value.

Yet, these same businesses struggle to attract and retain a Millennial talent base because they are operating in a monocultural workplace environment. So, how do these companies show their commitment to doing a better job of reflecting the generations, cultures, and lifestyles of their most valuable consumer segment? Often with diversity & inclusion initiatives void of real change or measurable impact.

For the first time in the human race, there are three generations in the workplace and consumer marketplace. Millennials are the dominant generation within the workplace; however brands continue to use workplace practices developed by the Boomer generation. In order for brands and businesses to achieve their maximum value they will need to implement an operating model that addresses change within the workplace, thereby extracting the best marketplace outcomes. Essentially, using highly strategic change management approaches to impact organizational cultural from the inside out.

Diversity and Inclusion practices will soon die if companies continue to regurgitate dialogue, education, and best practice share out sessions while undervaluing the importance of measurable action championed from the top. The way forward is a dual approach that delivers on the best of the best D&I initiatives and change management principles that work together to close the cultural gap between the workplace and the marketplace.

Interested in learning more about how to capture your total addressable market?  Please be sure to check out these posts:

The Age of Accelerations: Why The Workplace Must Change To Meet The Demands of The New Marketplace

Why Total Market: Why Now

Mono-cultural Defined

Or get the industry’s first report on The State Of The Total Market Industry Vertical.