Doing business with values, a compass for today's and tomorrow's managers

In the routine of the working day, we often lose sight of an important element, namely that work can be an aspect, though not the only one, that contributes to building meaning in our lives. Although it has lost its centrality, work remains an important dimension in people's lives and, according to management experts, can contribute, under certain conditions, to making a life meaningful. That is why companies must not neglect this aspect. But what characteristics must work have for this to happen?

"The answer is neither unambiguous nor simple, because both an objective and a subjective dimension are at stake," emphasises Stefania Contesini, coordinator of the Philosophy and Business Unit and Head of the Philosophy and Business Laboratory, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, who has just recently led us to reflect on the issue. We find ourselves in the same situation as Augustine found himself in regarding the concept of time: "If no one asks me, I know; if I try to explain it to those who ask me, I no longer know. By objective dimension I mean the realisation of conditions that favour the perception of meaning in people. Of the former, there are conditions referring to the characteristics of work and its organisation and less to those that, although important, can improve the working environment (from welfare systems, to benefits, etc.). As the expert explains, bwellbeing and meaningfulness, while having a certain affinity, are not completely overlapping. Among the former are certainly clarity with respect to tasks and responsibilities; autonomy and discretion in the interpretation and management of one's role and in the important decisions related to it; the possibility of a broad vision of the process in which the work is inserted and awareness of its repercussions; being put in a position to receive (and give) recognition; avoiding continuous and disorienting reorganisation and restructuring practices, motivated solely by performance and profit objectives. "Just to mention the most common, often disregarded ones,' adds Contesini. 'Obviously, receiving a decent remuneration in line with one's commitment also falls within these'.

However, this objective dimension is not enough and one has to take into account people's preferences, aptitudes, life plans, individual characteristics that are affected by generational and cultural differences, and thus by different conceptions of work and expectations of it. This is why it is always important to listen to people, their desires and needs, and to create the conditions for an intergenerational dialogue. 'But it is not enough,' the expert goes on to emphasise, 'Individuals must also play their part, i.e. they must recognise and make the most of the conditions that companies provide for them, but above all they must take care of what they do in their own jobs. Each person, in his or her role, must contribute with his or her actions, cognitive, emotional and social skills, and value sensitivity to produce meaning in his or her work. Meaningfulness, when it emerges, depends on the contribution of both the organisation and the individual.

The meaning of work and its significance can be helpful when managing business crises. That is, when a company has to reduce staff or take action on smart working or limit certain benefits granted to its employees. Attention: "Business philosophy is not to be understood as a set of norms, rules, fixed and defined behaviours to which the company must be subjected, just because some philosopher tells it to," Contesini goes on to detail, "but it is to be understood as that activity in which organisational actors are involved in rethinking in a critical-constructive way the sense of doing business and its aims, as well as the managerial function in its founding aspects, its objectives and tools. Because doing business today more than ever calls for the creation of value'. But how should value be understood? In the book "Doing Business with Values", Contesini, together with his colleague Roberto Mordacci, director of the Philosophy and Business Unit of UniSR, propose a conception of doing business that can serve as a compass for today's and tomorrow's managers in making choices, even the most difficult and conflicting ones. According to this proposal, the purpose of doing business is indeed the creation of value, a definition on which everyone converges, where, however, the concept of value is to be understood in a plural sense and not only in an economic sense, a combination of three spheres.

The economic one - the necessity of the economic sustainability of the enterprise is inescapable - the productive one, which means that wealth is created by making 'good' products and services, i.e. by making them in a 'workmanlike manner' one would say in philosophy, respecting intrinsic values such as quality, beauty and transparency. The third sphere of value is the ethical-social sphere, which indicates how these products and services are realised, i.e. the way things are done within the company, whether or not it operates respecting certain fundamental values: respect, responsibility, integrity, trust. The overall value of the enterprise is given when these values are balanced. So in making decisions, one cannot look only at profit, but neither can one look only at social-ethical values, if that means bankruptcy. Certainly, dismissals made solely to create shareholder value, particularly if the company is flourishing, are not compatible with this vision, nor is the decision to totally write off smart working out of an anxiety for control that implies a total absence of trust. Faced with each choice, it is the corporate decision-makers who, having as their orientation the integration of the three spheres, must from time to time put their deliberative and judgmental skills to work in order to make the best choice.