Opinion

Peaceful entrepreneurs to humanise trade

photo_camera empresario-marruecos

A few days ago, several Spanish and international media published the news of the Mallorcan businessman who distributed one million euros among his workers for Christmas.

It is a joyful and beautiful Christmas story that deserves to be highlighted, not only for the joy of the employees upon receiving the prize, but also for the lessons we can learn from it, knowing that the Moroccan entrepreneur and founder of the company Ok Mobility, Othman Ktiri, wanted to thank with this distribution the commitment, dedication and loyalty of his employees, after the company increased its profits by 60% compared to the 2019 figures.

Seen from another perspective, what Ktiri did with this award was to put itself in the place of its employees, to listen to them and to feel them. This is called recognition, which is key to business success as it emphasises the ability of the entrepreneur to understand the thoughts and needs of his employees as well as those of customers and other entrepreneurs. 
This is not all, as recognition always leads to empowerment. By recognising the effort and loyalty of employees, Ktiri has enabled them to be empowered and aware of their value and role in the company where they work and in society.

It is clear that empowerment and reciprocal recognition contribute not only to improving working relations between boss and employees, but also to improving business relations between companies and customers, giving more importance to people, their feelings and needs. Human relations are therefore important in the business world, both within the company itself and with other companies at home and abroad. For any sustainable and lasting business success, investment in the human side of the business is necessary. Investing in trust, happiness and love is investing in business peace that puts the human being first and foremost at the centre of the entrepreneurs' attention.

Ktiri's words: "Seeing the OKteam family in front of me so happy and joyful has undoubtedly caused the happiest person to be and to remain me", show that sowing love and happiness in the business world leads to reaping happiness and human and economic gains.

Today, we need peaceful entrepreneurs, who love and practice peace in their business relationships. A peaceful entrepreneur is a person who loves and desires for his employees, other entrepreneurs and his customers what he loves and desires for himself. With such entrepreneurs, who seek not only economic profit but also human profit, we will be able to humanise trade so that it becomes a bridge between people and a space for encounter and dialogue between cultures, and, why not, an area of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations.

Humanising trade means giving it a human touch, giving prominence to the people behind the companies, valuing the human and not only the material in trade relations and practising Heart Diplomacy, which aims to ensure that all parties meet their needs through the use of instruments such as recognition and empowerment. From my experience as a representative of ProChile in Morocco, an institution from which I have learned a lot, I can confirm that sustainable and long-lasting business relationships are nourished by the human factor, and that feelings and emotions are important elements that guarantee success in the business world.

Finally, in times of economic crisis, such as the current one created by COVID-19, there is nothing better to transform it than to give importance to human beings and their creativity and imagination. No crisis can overcome human imagination because people have the skills and capacities to imagine ways out of any crisis and to peacefully transform the economic conflicts that threaten humanity.

Said Bahajin, PhD in International Peace, Conflict and Development Studies and researcher at the UNESCO Chair in Philosophy for Peace, University Jaume I, Spain.