A better world, one office at a time

Today's companies need to build a democratic workplace.

By Traci Fenton

from the October 19, 2007 edition

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Atlanta - This is the dawn of the most entrepreneurial and socially aware generation in history. Workers under 40 are passionate about corporate social responsibility, a greener environment, and human rights – and we're creating businesses to advance those causes in the process.

The challenge is, however, that we're not necessarily building workplaces that do the same. Instead, we're often relying on the same old command-and-control structures that are inconsistent with the progressive causes we've created our companies to support.

Today's entrepreneurs need to break that trend and build democratic workplaces, because the way we work is just as important to advancing humankind as what we do or what we stand for.

Al Gore's Nobel Prize for his work in raising environmental awareness and inspiring change is praiseworthy. I yearn, however, for the day when a Nobel Prize is given to those who have worked to clean up the toxic workplace environments that billions of us work in each day.

Yet just as it took time to realize that it's possible to have successful businesses and lives without destroying our planet, we must realize that the way most people are treated at work – as nameless, faceless minions without real power – has to change to a democratic workplace if we are to truly change the world for the better.

What is a democratic workplace? It's one that uses freedom rather than fear, peer-to-peer relationships rather than paternalism, engagement rather than estrangement. Beyond giving employees a vote, it's about giving them a real voice in the decisions that impact their job and the organization.

This isn't some keep-your-fingers-crossed-and-hope-they-make-the-right-choice way of working; it's understanding that democracy is the way you tap the full creative potential of your employees to solve the problems you created your organization to fix. It's understanding that the traditional hierarchical workplace structures that operated on disengagement and the delusion of control are now a recipe for defeat in today's collaborative world.

Operating an organization democratically also helps the bottom line: It trims unnecessary layers of management, decreases turnover costs through improved employee morale, and increases innovation by tapping employee creativity.

So how will running your organization democratically help change the world for the better? Here are a few ways:

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