How to motivate like an Egyptian king?

When Khufu, the king of Egypt around 2560 B.C., decided to build his Egyptian pyramid, he knew that turning thousands of men into an effective coherent workforce was more difficult than building the pyramid itself.Khufu understood the importance of motivation in working on such a big project. For that, he decided not to hire war prisoners to build his pyramid because these workers may not have any motives to do their jobs other than the fear of punishment. Instead, he convinced Egyptian farmers to work on his establishment and in return he would not forget them after his death and he would bless them forever. Also, he compensated them and their families with plenty of food, shelter next to the construction site, and time to go back to their farms in the plantation and harvest season.

Khufu built an effective organization structure by dividing the 25,000 workers into teams of ten men. Each team has been assigned to work on specific task of the construction, had a supervisor to monitor its performance, and was motivated to work hard by completing against other teams for prizes.Khufu was able to align the rewards with the goals and design an effective organizational structure based on group work and ongoing supervision which resulted of one of largest Ancient wonders that is standing still until these days.

Diversity in Corporate America

Even though the pieces of the puzzle have different shapes, they match with each other and create the whole picture.
In the last 10 year, diversity has become one of the most important subjects in the workforce. Nowadays, it is essential for any American company to implement diversity program within the workforce at every level, from the mailroom to the boardroom.

Managing Diversity is a critical issue that most American companies are trying to master. An effective diversity program should reduce ethnicity, racial and gender inequality and integrate the corporation-wide diversity plan into the business plan. Strategic diversity recruitment and retention programs help achieve this goal.

“If the diversity program is not effective in producing a diverse racial, gender, ethnic workforce, then it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”
Bernard Anderson, Leading Diversity Expert

Companies who ignored the importance of diversity and didn’t monitor discrimination activities had to pay millions of dollars in discrimination settlements.

However, most American companies have demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity and provided minorities with equally opportunities for growth and development.

Reference:

Diversity in Corporate America: Still a Work in Progress:

Published: March 16, 2006 in Knowledge@Wharton