Clare Alexander is Scottish Enterprise’s Head of Workplace Innovation and Inclusive Business Models, and believes business leaders should be predisposed to consider their workforce through a ‘fair work first’ lens and recognise the power of their people.
Clare leads a team of Workplace Innovation specialists and project managers who encourage businesses to think about enabling staff to make full use of their skills, experience and creativity in their everyday tasks, making business processes as profitable, efficient and responsive as possible. She believes that work that provides opportunity, fulfilment, security, respect and gives employees a voice can generate significant profit for businesses, and benefits for individuals.
Clare is also Head of Co-operative Development Scotland, the arm of Scottish Enterprise which supports economic growth by promoting employee ownership, Clare recognises the increasing number of business owners considering the benefits of this type of business model. Passing control of a company over to its staff – who understand it best and have a vested interest in its success – benefits them as they can shape the future of the company and share in its successes going forward.
The business benefits of progressive people practices are considerable – statistics demonstrate that businesses implementing this type of approach, including EO, consistently outperform those who don’t, in terms of higher levels of profitability, improved business resilience during times of recession, and increased productivity brought about by higher levels of employee engagement and enhanced employee wellbeing.