It turns out, it can.

I was casually speaking with a colleague recently while we were in the office kitchen, preparing our lunches. She mentioned that at her last job, everybody always went out and bought take out junk food for lunch.  Since working at McNak this past year, she has developed healthy habits by making healthy salads. It helps that we have a full kitchen to accommodate our staff. My co-workers tend to pack that fridge full of vegetables, fruit, yogurt, quinoa salads etc. We’re inspired by each other’s creations. I too, have noticed that I’m packing healthier lunches these days.

As well, this colleague of mine has also taken to running along the seawall on a few of her breaks during the week. This in turn, has inspired other co-workers to run, or practice yoga on their lunch breaks.  We are all providing each other good examples of a healthy lifestyle, and we’re all getting healthier for it.

Healthier living allows us to become more productive at work. Working better starts from living better and with the consistent improvement on one’s lifestyle provided from healthy eating and exercise, we will make the most of every minute we put to work. With physical alertness and sound emotional balance, one can easily channel concentration on the right task.

Is your culture at work literally healthy? Nothing should stop us from setting examples at our workplace, and create a culture of healthy living. We’ll all be better for it.

photo: chotda

It all started with one bottle of Hawthorn Mountain late harvest wine.

The year was 2006 and McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group was celebrating 10 years in business. We had a little party at our office, inviting clients and friends. Just a few weeks before the party, our team had a great idea to add a philanthropy element to our festivities, and host a modest silent auction benefiting Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. We had already been a big supporter since 2005 , but true to our McNak spirit we wanted to do something different, and give our staff the opportunity to become directly involved.

Several merchants in our Yaletown neighbourhood generously donated items for the silent auction. The night arrived, people celebrated, and enjoyed bidding on many wonderful items.

The most popular item which received the most bids was that bottle of wine, donated by one of our staff members. It was during this evening that the idea of ‘GrapeJuice’ was born. Just a few months later we put together the first wine auction benefiting Big Sisters of Lower Mainland. Tomorrow night will be the 5th annual GrapeJuice wine auction.

Corporate social responsibility is part of our soul. It’s the right thing to do.

While on vacation with my family recently, we visited a couple of theme parks in California. Let me start off by saying, that on so many levels, you can’t compare the two.  What struck me the most, however, was the employees that worked at these two different parks.

In Theme Park A, the employees were genuinely happy to be there and their positivity was infectious. They were friendly, efficient, and overall enhanced the experience for us as visitors. They’re doing it right.

At Theme Park B, the employees were operating in slow motion, barely cracked a smile, and were practically looking at the clock, waiting for their shift to end. I even overheard one of the employees telling a customer, “We aren’t Theme Park A” I was shocked that he would speak in this tone, and to a customer.

I have had several friends ask me if it is worth it to go to Theme Park B. I’ve suggested that they not bother.  This brand has now lost potential customers based on my experience as a customer. And it’s not just me. The other three parents I was with where shaking their heads too. We were just so frustrated that this particular theme park had lost out on a great opportunity to allow their brand to shine.

Your employees represent your brand.  Brand is another word for user-experience. Create a culture where your employees can represent your brand in the best light. Engage your employees. Keep them happy. Train them. Re-train them.  You will keep customers, and win new ones.

It doesn’t matter what product you sell, what service you provide – as long as you have the right people representing your business, have engaged employees, things will fall into place, and your customers will be there.  Customer service is always key to any business. After all, if you don’t have a customer, you don’t have a business.

At the end of the day regardless of what business we are in, was the experience with our clients engaging and positive?  These experiences lead us to go back time and time again or at the very least rave to others about it. We are in an experience economy so best experience wins!

photo credit: _FuRFuR_

People around me marvel how organized I am, but I have a dirty little secret. I procrastinate. There, I said it.

I’m always striving to improve myself, and kick bad habits. We’ve all heard that the best way to kick a bad habit is to replace it with a good one.

I had heard of a book called Eat That Frog! – 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time – by Brian Tracy.
I didn’t hesitate to pick it up from the library, but here’s the irony of all ironies. I let that book sit on my bedside table for weeks. I was putting off reading a book about procrastination! I kept having to renew my borrowing due date with the library.

I finally started reading it yesterday, and I really like it. The idea is to identify your most important task, and do it first before you do anything else. The book is due tomorrow. I’m halfway through this quick read. I’ve learned some great points already, which I will apply to my daily life.

Tonight I will pull myself away from the computer, TV, iphone (the bad habits) and finish reading the book (the good habit) I’m determined to learn something and change my procrastinating ways.

PS – I did write this post on my iPhone – it can’t be all that bad.

Take care of your employees
They will flourish

Take care of your community
It will thrive

Take care of your company
It will grow

Take care of yourself
And be thankful

Take care.

photo credit: [PalTis]

I picked up a book yesterday called #CORPORATE CULTURE tweet.  Seeing as we’re fascinated with corporate culture here at McNak, and I’m on Twitter every day, this seemed like a book for me.

The tag line is: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas to Help You Create a High Performing, Values-Aligned Workplace that Employees LOVE

What a way to hook me in.  This is a book I want to read, I’m thinking.

The author, S. Chris Edmonds, is a Senior Consultant at Ken Blanchard Companies and has more than 25 years of experience working with leaders on culture change, team performance and effectiveness.

I cracked open the book last night, and was delighted to see that the format was short little snippets of wisdom.  It is a very fast read, and I found myself noting down several of my favourite ‘ahas’ that I can’t wait to share with our team.

What you will find in this book is some solid advice that you can apply to your corporation immediately. Culture does take time to grow and nurture, and #CORPORATE CULTURE tweet will help you lead the way.

photo credit: http://www.happyabout.com/thinkaha/

What I really like about this particular post is the simple message of being kind. Searching for a job has got to be one of the most stressful situations in anybody’s life. For those of you in the position as a hiring manager, please keep this in mind. Whether you hire the candidate or not, please make sure that the interview experience with you and your company is a positive one.

As the Greek author and philosopher, Plato said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

How did you find your last job?  Feel free to share in the comments below how much of a role social media played in your last job search.

                        Click on image to enlarge

Infographic courtesy of  MBA Online

Sharon – I really enjoyed taking on this 30 day challenge! Working out daily made my body and soul more energetic and positive. It was also really fun and rewarding to accomplish this challenge with like minded friends…the no drinking for 30 days, however wasn’t the greatest because there were days when I would have enjoyed a glass of wine or two. I realized I wasn’t trying to break a habit of drinking as it wasn’t consuming my life so as I embark the coming month of December, I have given myself another 30 day challenge in making good habits:

-        Spend 30 minutes min each day with some kind of self development and learning ie. Reading business book, daily paper, studying for recruiter courses!
-        Drink 6 glasses of water per day

Laura – I could drink coffee all day, but water? – I don’t drink nearly enough. Water is so important to good health so for my 30 day challenge I decided to drink 1.5 litres of water a day. Most days I drank at least 1.5 litres a day, if not more, but I have to admit that some days I got pulled back into old habits and drank less than 1.5 litres. My 30 days of water drinking were mostly successful (even including the small missteps) as even on the days when I didn’t quite meet my goals I was still drinking more water than I would have was I not consciously engaging in the challenge. I will definitely challenge myself again!

Matt – I accepted the 30 day challenge on a whim. I’ve never done one before so thought “why not.” I accepted my challenge in theory – I liked the idea. And an idea is what it remained. I lasted 3 days before it was out of mind for the rest of the period. It reminded me of the ‘best practices’ of goal setting that I didn’t use – I didn’t write it down and give myself a deadline; I didn’t ask for help or someone to check in with me to see how my progress was going; I didn’t keep a physical reminder near my desk to cue me to do something. This challenge reminded me that an idea will stay an idea until I turn it into a goal. Lessons learned for my next 30 day challenge!

Alana - My 30 Day Challenge was an interesting exploration of habit-making activity. In an effort to make it stick, I made a cup of green tea each morning and brought a pre-sorted bottle of vitamins with me to work.  I was really good and didn’t miss a day for 2.5 weeks until I ran out of green tea and one of my vitamins.  I missed a couple days of green tea, then a couple vitamins on various days. The interesting part was how I wasn’t as motivated to continue my activity after a slip up.  I learned that if I try any diet, exercise or new habit, I need to be routine on not only administering the activity, but also making sure I am ready with supplies.  Starting on Dec 1, I started a new routine to try – making my lunch every weekday so I don’t buy lunch.  Both Sundays I have gone out to purchase the necessary groceries  then chopped and cooked enough for the whole week.  That way, it is easy each morning to just pack the food into a Tupperware and bring it with me.  Also, in case I accidently run low on supplies, I have a backup of a few soups in my cupboard so I stay on track. Hopefully I can use my 30 day challenge experience as a learning point instead of a failure.

Jessica – I reached for my business book every night – except for the occasional night when I didn’t read at all because my eyes were just so tired from the day, that I had to go straight to bed.
I did manage to plough through my book way more than I normally would have. Glad I did the challenge. I will continue with my reading – see, the habit already worked!
Now I want to pick up another good habit. Maybe I’ll drink green tea every day, just like Alana did. That would be a good place to start.

What I think we all learned from this challenge, is to keep yourself accountable to attain your goals, and if you miss a couple of days, pick up where you left off, and eventually, the habit could start to stick again.

A few tips to keep in mind:

Drink moderately. Granted, the party is a social function, but it is still  a professional event first and foremost. A good rule to stick by – for every alcoholic beverage, make sure you drink a tall glass of water as well.

Mingle. Now is your chance to speak with those individuals you might not normally work with and meet the larger team, so be sure to make a good impression. Use the party as a way to strengthen existing relationships or make new ones.

Have fun! Take this time to blow off some steam and have a good time with your co-workers. Laughter is an equalizer.

Don’t forget your manners. Remember to thank your boss at the end of the evening.  Hey, they’re paying the bill. Let them know how much you appreciate the party they’re throwing for the company. And if one of your co-workers organized the event, make sure you give a special thank you for the hard work they put into planning the evening.

~ Jessica Rozitis