Beyond Profit: Conscious Capitalism

"The search for meaning is the changing expectations of the market and in the workplace - It changes the soul of capitalism." ~ From "Companies of Endearment" by Raj Sisodia, Jag Seth and David Wolfe

At a recent conference organized by the Institute of conscious capitalism, Mr. OP Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India, gave an inspiring example of how the way we work, change, despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. When he joined SBI year after completing an MA in English literature, the bank was a class apart from other Indian banks.

He was regarded as an adviser to the government and the industry, no major political decision without consulting the bank. When Bhatt became president in 2006, changing the culture of this giant company - with 200,000 employees in 18,000 establishments in India and abroad - seemed impossible. Bhatt personally sat with SBI top 2,000 managers and asked them what they needed for the bank to do a better job.

Bhatt took the top 25 leaders of a five-day retreat. Working with consultants, they decided that each employee is an employee SBI - they are citizens of the bank, with a role and responsibility to make a difference in the community they serve it. Because the public sector bank widest founded by an Act of Parliament, their duty is to provide a wide range of financial services to customers throughout the company.

Bhatt and managers came up with a tool: a tree Fulfillment each employee must complete. The tree had fruit express employment as money, promotions and rewards, with fruit implicit, such as personal growth, satisfaction of helping someone in need, social interactions and relationships. Tellers, clerks, loan officers, messengers, everyone - they have begun to respond to customers with a higher sense of purpose and responsibility.

So far, the experience of the civil works SBI. And the customers respond. Bhatt said at the conference that a growing number of customers lower middle villages their savings of Rs 15,000 to to 20,000 in the bank - the translation billions of new activities at national level.

The first results of SBI backed up study by Raj Sisodia, professor at Bentley College in Boston, companies dedicated to a broader purpose than just maximizing profits for its shareholders - companies like Whole Foods, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines. Sisodia research led him to the book "Business of Endearment" and write the Institute conscious capitalism will inspire companies to look further than the objective benefits all stakeholders rather than just shareholders should institute transformational leadership rather than command and control management .

If a large company rooted as State Bank of India, the lives of the employees to participate in customer service, no other organization has to settle for less.