The Value of Connections Within an Organization

Typically, 'connections' is understood on a personal level.  The value of professional connections is recognized as advantageous to ones career.  Want to move up the company hierarchy?  It's more than having the right credentials, experience and proven results.  Leveraging relationships within the organization, especially with senior level management is the key to promotions. 

However, 'connections' in this sense refers only to the individual but not the organization.  How do 'connections' help an organization achieve its goals?  The key is to understand connections in terms of Social Capital.

Social Capital is a little known, but critically important component to the success of an organization. 

Social capital is the value of relationships within an organization that leverages the available resources.  To put it simply, employees that work together, share knowledge and experience and work towards common objectives, benefit not only themselves, both personally and professionally, but also help the organization meet and exceed targets.

Morale is a good indicator of a company's health.  When morale is high, employees are more likely to have a sense of loyalty and community.  The desire to learn, to share information and to tailor personal goals to meet company objectives is strong.  The result tends to be a healthy, viable organization.  The converse is also true.  The sad truth is a company with low morale will see a steady downward spiral towards bankruptcy.

In today's economy, keeping morale high is more than simply creating a nice work environment.  It involves assessing the value of the organization's Social Capital, setting goals and making concrete steps towards achieving these goals.

First thing (after learning about Social Capital) is to measure your organization's Social Capital.  This is not an easy thing to do, but it can be done with the right tools and the right expertise.

Canadian Economic Outlook for 2013: Cautious Optimism

The Bank of Canada announced this week that Canadian businesses are optimistic about 2013.  The economy is expected to grow modestly this year with most of the growth in the manufacturing sectors in Eastern and Central Canada.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/01/14/canadian-businesses-see-brighter-future-bank-of-canada-reports/?__lsa=bc90-e162

Meanwhile, the Economic Club of Canada predicts that the U.S. will have a 'surge' in the economy for 2013 and this will benefit Canada.  Canada's economy will get a boost in exports, which supports the Bank of Canada's prediction of growth in the manufacturing sector.

This is good news for Canadian businesses, not only for those in the manufacturing sector but also for support services.  With an increase in demand, businesses will likely see modest growth over 2013.

However, one must wonder if the rosy predictions are merely temporary?  With governments continuing to run deficits, with debts piling up and with consumer debt at an all time high, one wonders how long we can continue before interest payments overwhelm us.  When growth is being financed by debt, there is a problem.  Whether or not Canada (and the West) can manage both growth and debt reduction remains to be seen.