Lessons from Davos on tourism and keeping workforce happy

A session of the World Economic Forum at Davos Hall in Davos, Switzerland on January 20, 2017. PHOTO | FABRICE COFFRINI | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Shocked by events over the last year or so, businesses now seem ready to listen to the common sense that they need to care for the environment, climate change, human rights and social justice or instability will reign.
  • This is vastly different from a few years ago when most stressed that the “market” would handle all these issues by itself.

  • There are some things every socially responsible business can do, even in the most repressive conditions.

  • They can ensure that their workers can form associations that can negotiate for reasonable terms and conditions, even in the white collar sectors.

  • And they can be the example for others.

Every year the world’s corporate and political elite gather in the scenic Swiss resort town of Davos, at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. Also participating is a small contingent of civil society folks from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and trade unions, which is why I am here, and where there is a sizeable number of Kenyans from various sectors.

This is probably the best organised conference I have attended. It is also a lesson on how to maximise conference tourism and ensure that there is spreading of benefits to more than hotel owners. There are thousands of workers in hotels, restaurants, in the conference itself, in security and driving shuttle buses. Pubs and restaurants are making a killing, but perhaps not as much as hotels where everyone must pay for the whole week, even if you will stay for only one day!

The Swiss—who brought us Utalli College—are the masters at spreading the gains from tourism to the general population, beyond large hotels, by promoting small and medium enterprise businesses in the sector. They have magnificently leveraged their tiny country—including making sure the country welcomes business and NGOs with equal warmth—and its beauties to benefit millions of people, and Davos is a good example. The residents of the town are given free access to many of the meetings, they rent out rooms to participants, and they promote each other’s business. In return they suffer some bad traffic jams in the mornings and evenings!

RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

For the first time, and after lots of lobbying and persuading, this Davos meeting has included the issues of responsible and inclusive business and the inequalities that unbridled globalisation has unleashed across the world.

Shocked by events over the last year or so, businesses now seem ready to listen to the common sense that they need to care for the environment, climate change, human rights and social justice or instability will reign. This is vastly different from a few years ago when most stressed that the “market” would handle all these issues by itself.

Whether they really believed that this mythical market could actually enhance inclusion and reduce inequalities, or whether this was simply a ruse to maximise obscene profits at the expense of the majority is unclear. But the result as Oxfam—led by East Africa’s own Winnie Byanyima—reported at the start of the Davos week, is that just eight men control as much wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people in the world.

This is a shameful fact, no matter how it came about. It is also unsustainable, and something that our politicians and economic policy makers should be thinking about as we head into elections.

This sort of gap—in Kenya, the 40 billionaires amidst 40 million paupers—is a recipe for chaos, even if the powerful think they can somehow manage the contradictions. It will come back to bite us, perhaps sooner than we think and in ways we can’t predict yet.

MORE INVESTED

Civil society has been pushing businesses to get more invested, outspoken and active when it comes to issues of democracy and human rights. It is in businesses’ own interests, for it is a fact that the best environments for responsible businesses are those that also protect human rights and democracy. It is not accidental that the majority of the most successful and sustainable businesses are in countries that respect human rights and the role of NGOs.

There are some particular dangers in doing this in Africa, one Nigerian businessman remarked, which is that indigenous businesses fear government reprisals given the extent of governmental involvement in business. The solution is for businesses to come together in associations which can provide protection.

But fearful or not, why businesses would aim, as they do in Kenya, for peaceful rather than credible elections—which necessarily guarantee peace—is unexplainable.

Moreover, there are some things every socially responsible business can do, even in the most repressive conditions. They can ensure that their workers can form associations that can negotiate for reasonable terms and conditions, even in the white collar sectors. And they can be the example for others. This is actually good business sense as a happy workforce is one that produces more and better.