Page 46 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

26 Building a High Morale Workplace

the most international of the locals,” and services more Fortune
Global 500 companies than any other agency in the world.

Internet Synergy Revs up Employee Morale Worldwide
Just think how much more powerful your influence can be in
today’s global workforce than it ever was for David Ogilvy way

back then—he had word of mouth, but you’ve got the Internet
at your fingertips. That means with the Web you can multiply
that same networking technique that Ogilvy used—but the mag-
nitude of your reach and the huge numbers of people that you

can influence is mind-boggling. With the power of the Internet,
your message and enthusiasm for employee morale can spread
worldwide. That means your ability to create a high-spirited,
unbeatable high morale global workplace is now a reality.

Think Globally, Act Locally

You’re probably thinking, “Surely it can’t all be that easy.” Well,
nothing worthwhile is ever easy, so here’s the catch. In this
global society, managers must be prepared to effectively lead
by responding to the needs of their local markets, while respect-
ing and honoring the uniqueness of worldwide cultures and their

differences.
In the early 1960s, Sony CEO Akio Morita taught his people
this still popular and appropriate mantra: “Think globally, act
locally.” The point he was making was that certain management

practices, like treating people with respect and dignity, are uni-
versal, as are establishing codes of conduct and work principles
or practicing core values. These are all things that transcend
geographical boundaries. At the same time, managers should
never lose sight of the fact that employees of different cultures,
in different countries, must be respected and appreciated indi-

vidually as well and not lumped together with how we do things
in our own small corner of the world. When we don’t respect the
differences of people from other cultures, we chip away at
employee morale and instill a feeling of distance and indiffer-

ence, rather than unity and global strength.