As we observe with increasing concern the rising tide of unemployment—for example: 18% in Spain, 40% in Bosnia and Herzegovina, close to 10% in the USA, and close to 95% in Zimbabwe (CIA factbook)—and think about ways forward, we may find it useful to keep in mind the following thoughts from a statement of the Bahai International Community which place this question in a broader context:
In all policies aimed at tackling unemployment and providing decent and secure work for all, the conception of work needs to transcend just the economic dimension and encompass also the human and social purpose that employment fulfills.
Work needs to be seen not only as a means to securing an individual and family’s basic needs, but also as a channel to developing one’s craft, refining one’s character, and contributing to the welfare and progress of society. Work, no matter how humble and simple, when performed with an attitude of service, is a means to contribute to the advancement of our communities, countries and global society. More »
July 29th, 2010 | Tags: BIC, decent work, full employment, human dignity, unemployment | Category: 101 ways to make a difference, Books and Resources | Leave a comment
Make It Meaningful Conference Explores How our Daily Work can Contribute to the Well Being of Civilisation and Calls for Speakers as the European Baha’i Business Forum EBBF Celebrates its 20 Year Anniversary
The European Bahá’í Business Forum, announces a Call for Speakers as it opens registration for its 20th Annual Conference, celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Paris, France – July 27, 2010 –EBBF (www.ebbf.org) the European Bahá’í Business Forum, announces a Call for Speakers as it opens registration for its 20th Annual Conference, and the second Make It Meaningful conference in a series. The three day event will be held at the deport Conference Centre in Nijmegen, The Netherlands September 23 to 26, 2010. The conference aims to support participants who want to learn to create workplaces which contribute to the well being of employees, other stakeholders and the communities within which they operate.
For more information click here to VISIT THE EVENT’s WEBSITE.
July 27th, 2010 | Category: Events | Leave a comment
“These values—ethical business practices, social responsibility, partnership of women and men, non-adversarial decision making through consultation—are in fact the ‘road map’ for business today no matter what its size.”
In the latest edition of Inspire we have a casual conversation with EBBF co-founder Ezzat (Eric) Zahrai, who looks back on the 20 years since EBBF’s beginnings and shares his vision on the forum’s core values, modern business and the future of humankind. Here is an excerpt from the interview:
EBBF: With the present economic recession, the stark disparities between the reality of sub-prime lending and investor bonuses, the Euro under attack, what would you say is one of the most pressing issues business has to resolve in order to live up to EBBF’s vision to be a force for the ‘well-being’ of humankind?
Ezzat: Well, first of all there are quite a number of experts who are working on these issues and could say things in a much more authoritative way than me. However, one thing that comes to my mind is that one cannot solve the problems of today while continuing to use the same elements which created those problems in the first place. We have to have something otherwise they will persist. What we need, I can summarize in one word: Trustworthiness. This might sound to some like wishful thinking, but it is what is missing, and not just in business, but in every aspect of human life—in our relationships with our co-workers, with our neighbors, and of course with all humankind.
So what we must do now is focus on how to create trustworthiness, so that it emerges from the realm of utopia into reality.
July 23rd, 2010 | Tags: Ezzat Zahrai, Trustworthiness in business | Category: Inspire | Leave a comment
Don’t miss out on this and nine other interesting job offers—from within and without EBBF’s network—in the latest edition of EBBF’s own Inspire magazine.
IT & Communications Coordinator – CSR Europe – Brussels, Belgium
CSR Europe, the leading European business network for corporate social responsibility, is seeking an experienced and motivated IT & Communications Coordinator to join our team in Brussels, Belgium.
The ideal candidate should have around 1-3 years professional experience and a strong interest in communications, information technology and working in the field of CSR and sustainable development. In addition, he/she must have good organisational and research skills as well as excellent communication and people skills. Knowledge of European institutions and issues is an asset. More »
July 21st, 2010 | Tags: CSR, CSR Job, IT, IT job | Category: Job offers | Leave a comment
Click on the image below to enjoy the latest edition of EBBF’s e-magazine INSPIRE
Stories, ideas, values, opportunities for action and meaningful job offers for you, from EBBF members.
July 19th, 2010 | Tags: building prosperity, ethics, Inspire, meaningful jobs, values | Category: Inspire | Leave a comment
Serge Thill, coach for gender diversity in Luxembourg, used EBBF’s Linked-In network to request help with a workshop he had been asked to give on Diversity for AIESEC in France. The very set of responses he received speaks clearly of the power of diverse ideas focused on a single point. After the successful workshop based on different ideas shared, Serge shared the following reflections.
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The question whether diversity really useful has been one of the topics of my workshop.
“Diversity is not an advantage it is a complication. Diversity is a source of misunderstandings and of tensions between people. It is costly in terms of energy and time to manage diversity. The manager’s job is to maximize results while using resources in the most parsimonious way. To distill simplicity out of complexity. Running a company is complex enough as it is; no need to add more complications for ideological reasons.”
Isn’t that what we learned in business school? The logical conclusion is: we hire no women, we hire no foreigners, and we avoid disagreement. We have a clear hierarchy and clear allocation of responsibilities. Everyone knows what he (!) has to do and does it. It’s as simple as that.
Or is it? More »
July 13th, 2010 | Tags: AIESEC and Diversity, diversity, Serge Thill, unity in diversity | Category: Inspire, SOS EBBF | Leave a comment
image from treehugger.com
In a refreshing display of walking their (environmental) talk, the British government has refused to build new runways around London in order to curb ‘binge flying’. They are going against the current when most countries continue to build new runways, Britain has stood out. As reported in a New York Times article, “Peder Jensen, a transportation specialist at theEuropean Environment Agency in Copenhagen, said that as far as he knew, Britain “is the only country that had made a conscious decision based on climate considerations.””
Not without controversy, mind you, conflicting, say some, with the dominant political touchstone, economic growth: “This is a new government that claimed to be business friendly, but their first move was to eliminate one of the best growth opportunities for London and the U.K. and British companies,” said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association. “We’ve run into a shortsighted political decision that will have terrible economic consequences.”
While EBBF’s efforts mostly concern assisting individuals in developing their capacity to translate their values into positive daily actions, we fully appreciate the role other actors play. For the significant restructuring of society towards the well-being of all its peoples is a dynamic, centuries-long task More »
July 5th, 2010 | Tags: ethical governance, Values trump GDP | Category: News | Leave a comment
From WWF UK’s website:
WWF is a global leader in the development of tools and approaches for more sustainable use of water resources. As Senior Water Policy Advisor you will be part of an innovative team which supports river conservation programmes across the world and which works with governments and companies to improve water policy. Your role will be to help multinational businesses to understand global water risks, to encourage them to address the environmental impacts of their water footprints and to develop the case for them to support stronger public policy for water management. You will be based in the UK but your remit, and the people with whom you will work, will be international.
You will be deeply committed to WWF’s mission. You’ll be able to demonstrate that you are a strategic thinker and that you can deliver against very challenging objectives.
More »
July 1st, 2010 | Tags: ethical jobs, WWF jobs | Category: Job offers | Leave a comment
Carrie brainstorming with work colleagues on how technology can help communities lessen their carbon footprint and improve social factors
“Some things we do don’t make sense from a standard ROI analysis, but reflect our values.”
In an upcoming interview in EBBF’s Inspire e-magazine, Carrie Freeman talks about her current position as head of the Sustainability Strategist office at a large semiconductor manufacturing company, including developing a new investment model that takes into account environmental and social factors for making business decisions. In the following excerpt, Carrie explains how this new investment model is being developed and used.
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EBBF: In the first piece you wrote for our blog you mentioned one of the major challenges you face in your position is convincing some people that sustainability makes business sense in a number of ways. And in this context you mentioned that you are creating “a social return on investment framework to be applied in situations where a standard economic model would not deem the project worthy”. Could you say more about this framework?
Carrie: We’re in the second phase in the development of this framework. The first phase is an analysis of sustainability practices based on traditional Return on Investment formulae, looking at potential revenue growth versus production cost. In other words, how much will it cost us to implement these ‘greener’ practices and how much can we expect to profit from them. But this phase alone isn’t really adequate in a new era. The second phase, which is where we’re at right now, is starting to look at situations and apply calculations to help determine what is the broader business value that such sustainability actions bring in regards to employee engagement and retention, license to operate, risk management, impacts to supply chain, benefits to customers, and benefits to your brand. Although these things are less quantifiable, we’re trying to include these metrics in our decision making. More »
June 28th, 2010 | Tags: alternative decision making models, Carrie Freeman, triple bottom line | Category: Inspire | Leave a comment
Jean Pierre Méan has contributed a great deal to EBBF, not least producing the EBBF publication and knowledge centre titled:
On Bribery and Corruption – Fighting to restores trust
Apart from being an active EBBF member he is also the vice president of Transparency International in Switzerland and in another of his roles as President of the Caux Initiatives for Change now offers a great opportunity to this blog’s readership with the program of the Conference “Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy” which will be held in Caux from 12 to 17 August.
The subtitle to this very interesting event offers a glimpse of the scope and conversations that you could enjoy if you decide to attend:
Exploring Ways to Help Create a Just and Equitable Global Economy
If you decide to attend you will also enjoy there EBBF presentations in a quite beautiful environment in the Swiss Alps.
You can download/read the full program in PDF format clicking to the event’s website here.
June 25th, 2010 | Category: Events | Leave a comment
