Years ago, before the information age took its bite and chunked out the human spirit from the corporate environment, there was more celebrating. Meetings used to be face-to-face, and people used to experience security at their place of work. Today, everyone is so preoccupied with their response times that people have lost their human spirit in the corporate world.

Fear creeps up behind us in a different format today. Thousands of years ago, we needed to worry about being chased by ferocious animals in the forest as we hunted for our livelihood. Today, we are chased by ferocious emails from overseas threatening our jobs if we do not respond by close of business day.

This is not true of all companies, but many seem to be going through what I would refer to as a “disconnect while connecting” experience. The people in organizations have lost themselves in the “busy”ness of their own lives.

As a result, they do not find priority in eating well, getting enough sleep or in fact spending quality time with their family and friends. More and more people are disconnecting with life in general.

Bottom line is that people today are not laughing or having as much fun as people from a few generations ago. Life has become complex, both in the corporate world and at home.

How does this affect the companies they work for? When people are living in a state of fear, it is proven that their brains do not function effectively. They lose all sense of creativity which is an essential part of life in general. This means their problem-solving skills are not in tune.

If both creativity and problem-solving skills are lacking and you couple this with a confused state of mind… productivity is reduced and stress is definitely increased.

As a result, corporate culture suffers because everyone is on edge and they begin to work against each other in order to accomplish their “To Do” Lists as best as they can. As a CEO or manager, you should realize that this brings your bottom-line down a few notches.

Now, back to inspiration. More and more CEOs are realizing that the information age has created this epidemic of “hurriedness” and fear in the lives of all stakeholders within their company – employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders. How can we get our stakeholders to work cohesively and bring back the passion of wanting to work for the company?

Paint the walls of those corporate towers with inspiration…that’s how!

Develop programs that demonstrate how much the company appreciates its employees. One way is through introduction of a series of wellness programs in order to start improving the lives of the people that work in the company. This illustrates that the company is interested in investing in their number one asset – its employees. Wellness programs can range from personal development coaching to group educational seminars on topics such as nutrition and stress management.

Another very effective program is the launching of weekly Lunch ‘N’ Learn sessions. These can range from a budgeted “brown-bag” series to a full-scale “lunch included” series – or a combination of both.

A third program which I have dubbed “The Giving Back Program” is corporate fundraising. When the company’s arms embrace community giving as an extension of what the business stands for, the employees are engaged and inspired. This inspiration becomes infectious and results in a value-based workplace for all stakeholders.

This type of program encourages employees to work and breathe as ONE. This cohesiveness cannot be purchased with promotions and higher pay structures. Giving back helps the soul of the individual which in turn helps the soul of the corporation. Inspiration begins to ripple to the outer limits… the customers, suppliers and shareholders.

The critical key to corporate inspirational success, however, is the personal commitment from the executive management level to provide consistent and ongoing programs. The CEO needs to believe that in changing the pulse of the company and harmonizing its people, he/she has to look beyond the balance sheet. In turn, employee efficiency improves, and the corporate culture begins shifting.

These programs need to be well organized and maintained in order to be effective and affective to the bottom line.

_{• Mary E. Fenuta, C.P.P., C.P.M., is the syndicated Corporate Inspirational Director for Confidence Bound and is CEO of Passionately Inspired Solutions Inc. She has over 20 years management experience in the corporate environment. Her company, Passionately Inspired Solutions, believes that inspiration is contagious and that it is an amazing motivator for enhanced productivity, improved corporate culture and increased profitability. The company specializes in inspiration and bringing back the human spirit in any organization. For information on how, visit www.PassionatelyInspiredSolutions.com.}