Welcome to a new era, the era of humanistic capitalism. In the next decade, businesses need to put just as much focus on making a positive difference in the world as meeting shareholder demands.
Three key trends are going to shape how businesses measure success going forward: the human experience, societal value, and technology as a multiplier. The future is going to be about human values and where they fit in the business world and how businesses shape their values and culture to integrate this human value focus.
Spur Reply (Spur) is uniquely positioned to win the decade of the 2020s exactly because of our clear focus on people and the human experience. Businesses and institutions need to make themselves more attractive to potential employees by offering opportunities to fuel purpose and make a socially meaningful impact through work. The line between home and work will continue to blur creating a need for businesses to focus on the employee experience in a new way.
A business can no longer just focus on building a product or delivering a single service.Businesses must understand that they don’t operate in a vacuum. They are a part of society.
Spur is founded on the idea that people are what’s most important and that while we wouldn’t have a business without clients, we wouldn’t have a great company without great people.
We create an environment where our clients and employees are fundamentally improved by working with us. Since we develop a partnership that balances skill and expertise with enthusiasm and potential, we multiply our mutual abilities to deliver superior results, innovation, and unique value.
Spur helps businesses sell their products and/or services by working with clients to think strategically, communicate effectively, and deliver value.
Generally speaking, people need money to survive, and so we work. However, if we’re going to spend 8 or 9 hours a day working, we want a sense of fulfillment. And a large measure of fulfillment at Spur is giving our people opportunities to push their potential. We choose to provide a mentoring, growth environment—not a harvest environment. When employees tell us what they’ve learned and experienced at Spur, and how Spur has made a dramatic, positive impact on their life, we swell with pride. We feel a sense of fulfillment. When we see our people have “ah-ah!” moments, we feel inspired, encouraged, and motivated. We apply a teaching consultancy approach to best serve clients and our people. We do this with a “same-side-of-the-table” management approach that is focused on being forthright and understanding the “why”.
A “teaching consultancy” is the practice of having experienced members of our company available to assist any Spur employee or client with difficult problems. We accomplish this by creating an experiential learning environment to provide managed growth moments. We work to understand our people’s goals and determine opportunities where an individual can take new action that builds toward their goals by giving away control where we can and maintaining control where must. We set expectations with all involved in the beginning and solicit the individual’s perspective whenever possible. An uncomfortable growth moment is when you are responsible for delivering something that is a little outside of your existing skill-set. This is a good uncomfortable. Its where impactful learning happens.
The “same-side-of-the-table” is about collaboration and being there for each other. When we sit shoulder to shoulder, it reflects that we care. We use language that conveys openness, such as “It seems to me…”, “I was wondering…”, and “From my point of view…”. When difficult conversations occur, we look for our culpability first, and listen without judgement to what is being communicated.
When teaching, we always try to give the “why”. When we understand why we are doing something, it catapults learning.
We are passionate about the work that we do and build an environment where we can live and breathe our core values:
Inclusion: Promote diversity, visibility, and involvement.
Courage: Be vulnerable when speaking up and listening.
Accountability: Make and keep commitments.
Respect: Acknowledge everyone's opinions, abilities, and qualities.
Excellence: Do great client work.
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This is an exciting time at Spur and we take pride in the value we deliver to our clients and the company we have built in the process. Our journey has only just begun.
