What is the authentic organisation?

I attended a recent CIPD Event hosted by Clayton Glen of HDA, when he spoke about authentic organisations and the growth in employee brands looking to obtain all of these positive associations. 

Google and the Innocent smoothie company were given as leading examples of the practice in its more positive aspects whereas BP - struggling with the fallout from the oil spill in North America and the attention the spill has brought to their business practices - was sighted as perhaps having problems grappling with the issue of authenticity.


When trying to research this post I kept coming up with information on authentic leadership as opposed to information on organisations - until I stumbled across this post from the Authenticity Book and the 3 rules on the area (apologies in advance if this is something I have been living totally obliviously to but the rest of the world is aware of - thanks to Jim and Joe either way!).


Applying these rules works for me for most organisations -  though it can lead to an ugly truth, is there no alternative for businesses now to be anything but 'authentic'?


Perhaps a reflection of a shift in the balance of the corporate conscience/CSR agenda in someways? With the explosion of the internet, demands from Gen Y of work life balance and business which will support this, being authentic requires more than just lip service it seems.


The alternative? Well maybe you can instill an image of success and endless profits...

... but in this instance access/information age we have the means to look a little closer.

For those above who did you will have guessed already that this photo was not taken when Lehman's still existed (if not my trick worked!) - rather it is taken in the windows of Christies Auction House in South Kensington, London. For those of you who dont know what they do here is another photo to explain...

I know - £2000-£3000 for the sign alone!


But would Lehman not have once been considered, in some quarters, an authentic organisation? This is in the sense that they were authentically driven towards profit and had a very clear agenda in that regard, i.e. work hard , play hard, then work harder, play harder etc.

You might not agree with the agenda of chasing more and more dollars but at least you knew where you stood? And are they arguably more authentic than ever in their current state?

Talking bout my generation (and yours)

First Gen X, then Y - as the New York Times says, now we are all looking to be a part of Generation R!

 Apparently this is the group of workers who have been hard at it (work that is - get your mind out of the gutter!) during the recession, up-skilling and taking on lots of extra responsibility without the financial credit they feel they deserve. Yep, we all might have a chance to jump on to this one regardless of decade you were born, sector or industry your work in  - its just about how much of an eager beaver you have been during leaner times.


I find this concept difficult to come to terms with, as I think it is difficult to generalise people who are eager to learn as being worthy of a title, but I assume the key difference is the issue of reward and the context provide by the worst recession since the apocalypse. Perhaps an echo of some of the characteristics of Gen Y, after getting their personal development they now want you to show them the money!

 But is it possible to try and examine a group for any form of metrics or signs for future trends when their future are so closely intertwined with the wider economic environment - without wanting the reward due to the assumption of an upturn, what differentiates this group from the masses?

Having to take on the oragami function of the business was too much for this Gen R employee

Who knows, it could become a phrase that catches on like credit crunch, or wasssuuupppp (ok I am pushing it a little with a comparison on that last one). But what is we go in to a double dip in this recession? Do we become Gen RR, or perhaps Double R?


I am copyrighting Gen DDREGLFASS now just in case (Double Dip Recession Employed but Grateful yet Looking For Acknowledgement of Skills in Salary )

Is this the reality of Gen R?