In April 3rd, 2014, the second IECO-RCC International Colloquium addressed the topic “The role of moral and spiritual motivation in building trust in organizations”. It was organized by the Institute for Ethics in Communication and Organizations (IECO) and the Real Colegio Complutense (RCC) at Harvard University. The searching for a better understanding of human motivation in the workplace inspired a lively discussion among the speakers and the audience.

Managing other people’s work is filled with challenges, and among them, understanding what motivates people is essential. Unfortunately, most popular theories describing employee motives have neglected, if not omitted entirely, the importance of the ethical and spiritual dimensions of motivation. This has led to a model of a person as self-interested, amoral, and non-spiritual. Members of the panel discussed on the limitations of such a model, and the need to articulate a more complete and accurate description of motivation that brings out the full dimensions of being human, which is conducive to improved management practices leading to flourishing in the workplace and to building higher levels of trust in organizations.

Photographer: Ismael Martinez. Videos recorded by Media & Technology Services, Harvard University.