Two things you should know about me: 1) I like to think I’m open-minded. 2) I am a business geek. That doesn’t make me an anything goes, no competition, pot-for-schools hippy. Nor does it make me a pro-business, scorched earth, cigar-chomping suit.
Well of course not, you’re thinking. Why would it? Because in the current climate tempers are high and decisions made in a second are filtering into the press to inform our national conscience. A personal example…
I live and work – for the most part – in Bristol. It’s a small, creative city about one hour south west of London. The parent company of MeetTheBoss TV has offices in New York, on Wall Street.
The Occupy movement has a significant presence in both cities. Occupy Bristol is the largest in the UK outside of London, and Occupy Wall Street is – I believe – where it all started (driven by the Canadian activist group Adbusters).
Last Saturday I stopped at Occupy Bristol to ask what they wanted to achieve and to generally find out more from their perspective. Like I said, I’m open-minded. Walking out of the camp, a passing chap yelled “f*****g dirty tax dodging scum” at me and scared my son.
This week, an Occupy protester spat on a male colleague in New York just because he was wearing a suit.
I’m not a politician and I don’t wish to get involved in politics or finger pointing (sadly, so often the same thing – although I think it has ever been thus). I do want to make a point about profit and the communication of profit, because this is where, I believe, business has failed people on an individual level, and failed to keep in touch with public feeling in general. I lay this firmly at the corporate communications’ door.
Firstly – prepare yourself – let me say this: profit is no bad thing. In fact, to heck with it, let’s rocket propel the baby out with the bathwater, profit is good. Profit is great! Profit isn’t obesity or diabetes or cancer or racism or tyranny. Neither is profit interchangeable with the word ‘gun’ in the following lyric: guns don’t kill people, rappers do.
I am, of course, talking about honest business profits – not credit-leveraged financial doubletalk pseudo-profits that steal from a whole bunch of Peters to pay one Paul. And the problem is in that distinction: if good businesses don’t speak up, we are in danger of allowing a whole swathe of society to demonise a driving-force for sustainability.
Profit allows for job creation. It makes stable companies in an unstable world. It rewards hard work, creativity and innovation. It funds progress, research and development, testing, marketing. Profit drives corporate philanthropy and outreach.
BUT! (And it is a big but. Bigger than Sir Mixalot’s wildest dreams.) When did you last see clear communication of this?
Quarterly and annual statements pronounce profit but (wilfully) obfuscate what happens to it – leaving the way clear for those that want to label sizeable bonus payments as profit’s only purpose.
What if profit was clearly and simply presented with a use graphic?
We made $1000 profit this year.
$500 are being re-invested to grow our business in Iowa leading to the creation of 10 new jobs.
$100 are being invested in R&D in Paris, with the creation of one new job.
$100 are being spent on greening our head office, meaning a 10% reduction in carbon footprint by 2015.
$50 are being allocated for executive bonus payments… And so on.
Does anybody do this, and would you be prepared to share some examples? What feedback have you received? Or am I just being naïve? Would love to hear your thoughts…