According to Kaushik’s theory, when a HiPPO is in the room and a difficult decision needs to be made, but there is no data or data analysis to determine the right course of action, the group will often defer to the judgement of the HiPPO.
HiPPOs usually have the most experience and power in the room. Once their opinion is out, voices of dissent are usually shut out and, depending on the company culture, others fear speaking out against the HiPPO’s direction, even if they disagree with it.
This leads us to think about what situations, past and present, have been dominated by HiPPOs and to question whether this is appropriate in today’s business sector.
One of the most fundamental decisions to date that has been made by the HiPPO is where a company’s office should be. Company location has always been important, but one could argue that it’s been a somewhat more straightforward decision in the past, as most businesses have typically clustered in similar geographies for similar reasons.
But with working patterns thrown up the air and everyone, especially the HiPPOs, looking skyward wondering where the feathery pieces are going to fall, we’re finding that employees are no longer disenfranchised from the decision on where to establish their HQ for the next period.
What we’re seeing amongst SMEs that are signing up to our co-working office in Bristol is the outcome of more democratic decision making about where to set up shop.
But it’s not just the ‘where’ and ‘what’ that is fundamental here: it’s also the question ‘why’ set up shop in certain places or types of office space?
Our experience is that decisions about where to take office space are to do with the alignment of the values of a prospective member and the values of our company as the co-working operator providing the space.
With good reason, many young companies today are very focussed on their brand values, not least because these are often synonymous with being a successful business in today’s socioeconomic situation. This is exemplified by the increasing popularity and credibility of the B Corp certification.
B Corp is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency on factors from employee benefits to charitable giving, and on supply chain practices.
So, while B Corp Certification is holistic and not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue, verification involves, for instance, documentation of a company’s business model and information about operations, structure and various work processes.
In a traditional landlord-tenant arrangement agreed by the HiPPOs of old, the ability to achieve B Corp status would be that much more challenging, because the landlord would be unlikely to be offer space with values at the forefront of the contract, or make it easy thereafter to attain the criteria insofar as it relates to the built environment.
However, sign a contract with a co-working operator that also cares about the great emergencies of our time, whether that’s climate change or equitable corporate governance structures, and companies can then accelerate their ability to thrive in today’s economy – and end the hegemony of the HiPPOs.
Mark Gregson is CEO of Impact Working, part of Impact Capital Group
Source: Office - propertyweek.com
