4 “Radical” Workplace Ideas
Equality. Clarity. Collaboration. Openness. Fairness. Is it really asking so much?
I know next to nothing about business, and even less about how to run one. That will be made very clear to those reading this who are familiar with such matters. However, I’m not letting that stop me from offering up my own ideas of what business could look like, when unrestrained by current standards or precedence.
I don’t have all the answers, just questions that feel worth considering. So without further ado, here are my ideas and thoughts in no particular order, of some “crazy” or “radical” ways we might do things a little differently.
Idea #1 — Everyone gets paid the same amount of money regardless of what job they perform. All roles are treated as equally valuable.
Not only would this remove discrimination from things like gender inequality in pay, but it would prevent people from trying to “move up the ladder” simply for more money, as they would already be getting paid the same as everyone else from the CEO to the Janitors.
All people are valuable, all lives and time is valuable, and all jobs being performed no matter how big or small, simple or advanced, are worthwhile and important parts of making a business function.
Unknowns:
How do you encourage or motivate people to work at manager, supervisor, or team leader type positions, when they are getting paid the same as everybody else, despite increased responsibility and tasks?
Taking financial considerations out of the equation, perhaps the person would be chosen based on their skill sets and/or passion for the role? Or alternatively, suppose there is another way to structure a business so that the whole concept of “manager” or “team lead” roles and similar becomes unnecessary?
Idea #2 — Business operating costs are taken out of collective profits first, and the remaining profits are all divided equally between every member of the company.
This would help promote fairness and 100% transparency on the financial happenings within the business.
Theoretically, no manipulation or corruption would be able to occur, without the whole company being able to witness and investigate the numbers not quite adding up. Furthermore, there wouldn’t be much need or point to deception or manipulation if everyone was already getting an actual equal share.
Unknowns:
How do you actually create a system that ensures greed and corruption would not be possible to implement at some point during the process? There would need to be fail-safes and checks in place to support a fair and equal system.
What do you do if the company operates at a loss for that year? Would there be a base pay rate for all, and the profits would be in addition to base pay? Or would you be unable to pay your workers at all if operating costs were too high during a given period?
Can a company truly afford to pay all its staff in a fair and equitable way, removing favoritism and similar from the equation, and making employee ownership and compensation truly equal by default?
Idea #3 — Equal consideration, discussion, and collaboration between everyone in the company when business decisions are to be made.
Everyone in the company would get to vote and choose before decisions were made regarding what to spend money on. Repairs and upkeep costs that are deemed necessary for basic functionality could perhaps be handled without needing to vote and discuss if all were in agreement about their necessity.
Everyone would have a say in what direction to take things for the entire company, with fairness and complete openness about the challenges that are encountered along the way.
This sort of open conversation and inclusive decision making would help choose directions that would benefit all in the company, or at the very least satisfying what the majority see as beneficial. It could prove to be a welcome contrast compared to a more traditional setup, where one person or a small handful of persons decide the direction the company takes, and the changes are then forced on the rest of the company, with most individuals having no real say in the matter.
Creative solutions to common problems could be managed with collaboration and open discussion as events and considerations affecting the company arise. Getting input from everyone, and allowing individuals to vote on the decisions being made, ensures that a company would continually move in a direction that the majority of its workers find agreeable and beneficial.
Unknowns:
Is it possible to run a financially successful business without management or executive roles in the traditional sense? So you wouldn’t need a “CEO” for example, but rather everyone can discuss and decide company direction equally and fairly?
What are the limits of “employee owned company” related programs that currently exist, and could they be adapted or improved upon to create a system that works more openly, equally, and fairly?
Can there be a scenario, or does it already exist today, where literally everyone who works at a company owns an equal share of it, regardless of their position (removing things like “investors” and “special interests” from the equation, etc.) and thus holds equal say, and equal bargaining power, in the decisions that are made?
Idea #4 — Open windows, fresh air, indoor plants, and no fluorescent lights whatsoever (crazy talk, I know.)
Open small windows with screens for fresh air flow, and use as few inner walls or dividers as possible to encourage good circulation of the fresh air.
Have natural lighting everywhere, as much as possible, using skylights, large viewing windows, and no fluorescent lights whatsoever. LED lighting would be the minimum with current technology, and even then, it would be better as a supplement to natural light rather than having it be the primary light source. Warm light colors are generally preferable too if you ask me anyway, or at least daylight temperature ones, rather than the artificial feeling of cold white lights.
Keeping good plants growing in abundance for indoor spaces can help promote fresh air and also improves peoples’ moods too. The right indoor plants will help even further to offset all the yuckiness from a typical office environment, like stagnant air generated from technology and devices being used in an enclosed space. There’s only so much filtering and recirculating of old air you can do with HVAC machines.
And as an added bonus, have designated “warm zone” areas for folks to warm up in if they’re feeling chilly, and “cool zone” areas for the opposite situation. Anyone who has worked in a typical office environment will come to understand the necessity of the light jacket + desk fan combo year-round to combat the sometimes surprising shifts in temperature in a given space. Again, HVAC can only do so much within a closed space. A little fresh air and natural light would go a long way to improving the well-being and happiness of people working and collaborating in a shared space.
Unknowns:
This is perhaps the most easily realized idea on this list today, and it’s surprising that so many companies are still not taking these kinds of actions yet, to improve the environments and well-being of people working at their offices or etc. Why aren’t more places already incorporating these kinds of things in their working environment?
