The principle behind the Human Centric model is that you need to apply empathy to understand the problems people and communities face, then design a solution that serves them.
Hal Rosenbluth published a book in 2002 titled “The Customer Comes Second”. At the time, it seemed a bit far-fetched because we had been programmed to accept that the Customer came First. Always. But once you drill down into the methodology, he goes on to explain that by looking after your staff, they, in turn, will look after your business.
Looking at the best companies to work for in 2010, standout benefits included on-site childcare, healthcare, work-life balance and telecommuting (up to 20% of the time).
In 2018 and 2019, Kaiser Permanente was listed for their “supportive family-like” culture. In addition to pay and healthcare benefits, they maintained their high ranking for recreational activities and benefits extended to employees and their families.
Fast forward to 2020, and a study by Glassdoor identified that within the Top 20 motivators for employees are Flexible Schedules, Childcare and Commuter Assistance. The common thread through all of these things is simple… over and above compensation and benefits, employees want more time. Time with families. And time to enjoy a good quality of life.
In “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren, he sums it up beautifully: “Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time…. Your time is your life.”
If you’re still not convinced, FlexJobs conducted a survey in 2019 of Flexible Work Space Choices. Of the 7300+ respondents:
- 80% said they would be more loyal to employers who offered flexible work options
- 76% prefer to work remotely
- 65% said they would be more productive working from a home office
- 75% said they wanted a flexible work space for a better work-life balance
- 78% of people said having a flexible job would allow them to be healthier
- 86% said they’d be less stressed
- 44% said a job with flexibility would have a “huge improvement” on their overall quality of life
- 70% appreciated the reduced stress from commuting
- 72% were more productive as a result of fewer interruptions from colleagues
- 64% appreciated the minimal exposure to office politics
Whilst there will always be a need for a “conventional” workforce, we live in a day and age where technology can be used to meet the growing needs of employees without compromising on productivity and accountability through the implementation of effective tools to create a smart workspace solution.
For this very reason, Mi-C3 set out on a passion-project and developed an ecosystem called AFFECTLI. It’s a Human Centric Technology model that was designed to revolutionise the way businesses operate – designed to support humans in order to make them more efficient in the workplace, and in turn, give them more time with family and loved ones.