Tag Archives: corporate culture

Healthy Company Culture makes Healthy Employees

Can the culture of  your company actually make you healthier?

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

BIV Boardroom Strategy: Candid realities about business' dirty little secret

Reblogged from Some thoughts on strategy, leadership, and corporate culture.:

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In an effort to avoid conflict, leaders and team members often conceal their true feelings, withhold their opinions or outwardly agree and go along with the crowd while inside they are vehemently opposed.

For some, this lack of candour also extends to hoarding information or avoiding communicating with others entirely, in an effort to save face or get and stay ahead of the pack.

Read more… 664 more words

Corporate Culture Minute

From the top of Whistler Mountain, Sarah McNeill talks about obstacles that can get in our way.

The Clover Food Lab Story

Clover Food Lab is proof that a great corporate culture is the responsibility of the CEO to foster right from the very beginning. That means describing the values, living the values, and sharing stories about what makes your culture great. From there it becomes the job of everyone in the business to passionately model the culture you want to see. In Clover’s case it’s building that culture from the ground up, providing opportunities for growth, living and breathe transparency (even the kitchen are completely open), stick to your values, and promoting what you believe in in an actionable way (“promote environmental well-being, one meal at a time.”).

How are people modelling culture in your organization?

This guest post was written by:

Mike Desjardins

Mike Desjardins is the Driver (CEO) at ViRTUS (www.virtusinc.com), an organizational development consulting firm with expertise in strategic planning and implementation, leadership development, change management and succession planning for medium to large organizations. He regularly blogs at www.mikedesjardins.com.

Do you love your job?

Author: Bagande

Image via Wikipedia

Research shows that people who are happy at work, are better performers, have strong relationships with colleagues, and open communication with their managers. All of this leads to high employee retention, work satisfaction and a healthy corporate culture.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we ask you one quick question…

#CORPORATE CULTURE tweet

I’m a sucker for catchy book titles.

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/

The Happiness Factor

You’ve probably have heard this before, ‘We need to change our corporate culture’ and ‘our people just aren’t motivated’.  And suddenly new signage and new mantras and motivational carrots begin to pop up throughout the corporation. And the same dysfunction lives on. Turnover and poor engagement continue to plague. The machine may look shiny on the outside but the core is out of alignment. 

 Daniel Pink , author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, said that for the 21st century, there exists an evidence based approach to motivation for complex work.   Daniel says that you can’t manage people into engagement. His recommendation is to pay them enough and then give them sufficient amounts of autonomy, mastery and purpose. So the secret to workplace happiness is not found in the carrots or external motivators to do great work.

People in complex jobs, which seem, these days, to make up the better part of the corporate workforce, require self direction. They also find a great deal of reward in the mastery of their work. The desire to get better at stuff and see real progress at work is highly satisfying. The only catch is that these people need to know the context of what they are doing and why what they do every business day really matters.

 Time Magazine recently quoted Nobel winning economist Daniel Kahneman saying that ‘when you analyze happiness, it turns out that the way you spend your time is extremely important.’

 When work is meaningful time passes quickly. The wheels of enterprise move in a kind of synchronized motion and teams are truly happier. Engagement? – check.  Great corporate culture? – check. What better place to spend half of your daily life but in a workplace where you actually feel happy and enjoy the company of others feeling the same. 

Office party etiquette

We discovered from the results of last week’s poll, that over 90% of you are going out after office hours, to celebrate the season with your coworkers. This is great news to us, as we believe that strong relationships amongst company employees leads to a strong and unifying team. Parties are ideal morale boosters, and the perfect way to put the office walls behind you, and enjoy the company of your peers outside the office setting.

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

Yes To – Positivity

I had the pleasure of meeting Lance Kalish, one of the co-Founders of Yes To,  while on Spring Break in Kona, Hawaii earlier this year.  It was most enjoyable to hear his story of how he and other co-Founder Ido Leffler, took a fledgling natural health brand from Israel and gave it roots to become an international brand and success story.

One of the things that stood out for me was Lance’s genuine positivity and outlook on business and life. While running a new company has taken countless hours, what resonated was their company’s raw energy found in the power of the word YES. This video below clearly demonstrates how a strong brand and message has positively impacted their team. Their energy is contagious!

By the numerous team photos found on their web site, they literally ‘wear’ their brand! Well done YES To!

~ Sarah McNeill

Customer engagement

I read this recent post, Faking it by Chris Ferdinandi, managing editor at GoMakeThings.com and I find his thoughts on customer engagement so very true.

Sincerity is key when it comes to customer service, and clearly if you love your job, and have a thriving culture, the sincerity will come naturally. The positive byproduct of this is happy, loyal customers who believe in your product or service, and want to be a part of that experience. It’s that simple.

Foster a positive corporate culture which will keep your employees happy, and your customers will be happy too.

~ Jessica Rozitis