INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
an interview with Giles Gibbons, CEO of Good Business, he commented: “What’s interesting about the fi tness industry is that it has an incredibly strong social purpose: to help others. [It’s a purpose] that’s well understood by the general public. It’s a fantastic place to start and actually quite rare. I think the challenge for the fi tness industry is that it seems to forget about this and sees people as numbers, thinking of it as a cost-driven business. As a result, I don’t think it’s achieving the aspiration, the loyalty and the warmth it should from such an important societal function.” So consider this… What does your organisation fundamentally stand for? Are you creating a legacy that will be long remembered?
Responsible In 1970, Milton Friedman, the Nobel prize-winning economist, wrote a famous essay in the New York Times Magazine titled ‘The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profi ts’. More than 44 years have since passed and the world of
business is now very different, with the responsibilities of business arguably far more complex to defi ne (see Figure 1, p105). Now, an increasing number of businesses routinely invest in social and environmental projects that may seem well outside the scope of their core business activity.
Figure 2: Characteristics of an authentic business A compelling
organisational story
They care Deliver
meaningful value
Take the long view
Transparent
Characteristics of an authentic business
A belief in something
Consistent actions
Proof For example, while I was writing my report, Innocent Drinks
was encouraging people across the UK to knit little woollen hats to adorn the tops of its smoothie bottles. The company donated £0.25 to the charity Age UK each time a bottle with a hat was sold, with the goal of reducing the number of old and frail people dying from the cold weather in England and Wales. So what was the connection between a business that liquidises fruit and an elderly person who has never purchased a smoothie? Well, it seems as though many businesses are fundamentally redefi ning their role in society, which is reshaping their perspective of who is a stakeholder. So consider this… How much clarity is there in your
organisation about core responsibilities? Would a neutral person conclude that your organisation’s terms of business are transparent, fair and reasonable?
Authentic ‘Authentic’ means to be real or genuine. In a business context, it broadly translates to: “This is who we are and this is what we stand for. Please come join us if this matters to you as well” – but I believe there are many facets to an authentic business (see Figure 2, left). When an individual and a business do genuinely connect, there’s a meeting of both heart and mind. Customers become enthusiastic advocates who just love talking about your organisational story. So what’s your organisation’s story? Do you have one,
and would it captivate a room full of strangers? This matters because a remarkable story has the potential to rapidly spread through a person’s network – and networks today are larger and more effi cient than at any other time in the history of humanity. Organisations with a remarkable story get more mentions on social networks, powered by an individual’s passion and excitement to inform others. This means they spend less on paid advertising trying to convince others to ‘like’ them. So consider this… Does your organisation have a compelling
story that spreads far beyond its geographic boundaries? How good is your organisation at proving the difference it makes to the lives of its customers and its community?
Generous Organisations need to have a reputation for authentic generosity if they are to remain relevant to their stakeholders. Throwing out a few scraps of charity once a quarter is neither
10 Health Club Handbook 2015 6
www.healthclubhandbook.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254 |
Page 255 |
Page 256 |
Page 257 |
Page 258 |
Page 259 |
Page 260