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Due to an abundance of natural resources and a successful tourist industry, Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the South Pacific.  Known for beautiful scenery and warm people, the more than 300 islands—most of which are not permanently inhabited—are home to just under 900,000 residents.

Each morning, local fruit vendors awake before Fiji’s beautiful sunrise to pack their wares to small marketplaces throughout the islands.  They toil at the local market until their supply of goods for the day is exhausted, or until the market closes for the day.

Despite its “better-than-most economy,” it is estimated that as many as 25 percent of Fijians live below the poverty line.   Fijian fruit vendors know all too well that their ability to support themselves and their families is dependent upon their ability to peddle produce.  So, each morning they line up amongst the other vendors, each seeking to sell enough fruit to, in turn, purchase other goods.

HELP International is a not-for-profit organization that was founded to assist individuals, such as those in Fiji, in fighting poverty.  Each year, HELP sends volunteers—most of them college students—to various locations throughout the globe to work with locals on various development projects.  One area in which HELP lends support is in teaching basic business concepts, so that people such as Fijian fruit vendors are able to support themselves more effectively.

HELP Program Director, Arturo Fuentes, recounts the volunteers’ experience in working with a group of mango sellers in one of these markets:

Upon arriving at the market, it quickly became apparent that all vendors of like products or produce situated themselves next to others selling very similar products.  All banana vendors set up stands and carts next to other banana vendors, all fish vendors next to others selling fish, and so forth.

As the HELP volunteers worked with the mango merchants to help them become more effective, they taught the vendors a basic concept which was, surprisingly, a new piece of knowledge—that of differentiation.

The concept of differentiation was basic to most of the young volunteers, who grew up in the U.S.  After all, everyone knows that you don’t build a McDonald’s next to another McDonald’s, right? You must find a way to differentiate yourself from those around you—location, product, price, etc.  Yet, in this marketplace, the mangoes sold by one vendor were identical in price, quality, size, and every other way to the mangoes sold a mere four feet to the right or four feet to the left.  And, next to those carts, were similar carts, each selling identical mangoes—most of them from the same origination points.   Zero differentiation.  Limited sales.

The volunteers had a simple, yet powerful idea.  What would happen if one of the vendors set up shop the next morning in a location separate from his produce compadres?  By simply moving out of the “mango section” and into another area, the vendor might gain some differentiation by having mangoes available to those who were purchasing, for example, fish.  It certainly seemed like a good idea, and they found a vendor who, hesitantly, agreed to try it.  The next day, he moved his cart to another location, and the strategy appeared to be working.  That is, until the next day.

Upon arriving at the market the following day, the volunteers noticed that the mango seller had again returned to the area in which his colleagues were located.

“Surely the new location was better for the hawking of mangoes than was the location with all the other mango vendors,” reasoned the volunteers.  However, they also learned something important.  For these vendors, their daily stint at the market was not simply limited to produce transactions.  It was about connection.

The volunteers learned that the market was, for these individuals, a place where they could connect with others, even if they were, technically, competitors.  They were more engaged by the social connection—one that had been there for many years—than they were by a monetary exchange, even if it meant less Fijian dollars went home that evening.  Interestingly, the volunteers did not indicate whether the lone vendor’s day-long move had been profitable; it didn’t matter.  There was something of greater importance.  For the mango sellers, connection is a powerful motivator.

This need for connection isn’t limited to Fijian mangoes.  Earlier this month, the UN released some interesting findings.  According to the report, of the Earth’s 7 billion inhabitants, 6 billion have cell phones.  Possibly not surprising, until you learn that only 4.5 billion have proper sanitation.  Is that right?  1.5 billion people have cell phones, but no toilet or sanitary waste disposal?  What does this say about the importance of being connected?

Employee Engagement and Connection

We find similar results in our employee engagement work when it comes to the importance of connection.  A significant majority of employees cite a social connection to the workplace as a major factor in why they choose to remain with their current employers.

Is connection really that important?  Ask your employees (or your local mango vendor).  You can probably reach them by cell phone.

Related Post: Telecommuting and Engagement: Evaluating the Tradeoff between Autonomy and Connection

Related Post: Get Back to Work, Yahoo! How Losing Connection Hinders Employee Engagement

Related White Paper: MAGIC: The Five Keys of Employee Engagement

About Tracy Maylett

Tracy is the Chief Executive Officer and President of DecisionWise, and is responsible for guiding the overall strategy of DecisionWise, as well as leading large-scale change efforts for clients throughout the globe. View Bio

3 comments — View
  • Great article. Anyone working with effective teams could tell you that the success of the team is in direct correlation to the level of connectedness shared by the team members.

  • In a previous company we used the Gallup survey for employee satisfaction. We discontinued the survey after the first year, but one of the questions that always interested me was something along the lines of “I have a best friend at work.” I believe it was meant to address the connection concept, but I think there would be better ways to get at this. I know I personally did not have a “BEST” friend at work, although I definitely felt connected to my coworkers. It’s the connection that’s important, not necessarily the friendship. I actually ended up leaving when that connection was no longer there.

  • How do you see the delineation between “friend” and “connection”? As in Gillian’s comment, do we all really need “friends” at work?

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