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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…
Posted in career
Tagged communication, corporate culture, employee retention, happiness, Valentine Day
“Change your thoughts, and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale
I recently challenged myself to changing how my mind works. I am an over analytical, one-step-ahead, worrying type of person and I made it my personal, internal goal to be more positive and focus on what I want out of life rather than focus on the current hardships I have going on. I have been reading a lot of books and blogs about how powerful the mind really is and it’s astonishing to think how a small change of thought can lead to big changes in life. Now, somewhere deep down I knew just how powerful the mind was because my father is an avid “positive-thinker”. He has always taught me that by thinking positively and being grateful for what you do have, you can shape your future by the simple power of positive thought. Basically asking the universe for what you want, knowing inside that you can get it, and taking the steps to achieve what you want.
Most people go through a bad situation and dwell on the negative experience – and in doing so they manifest more bad. Very few people go through a bad situation and think about the good that has come from that negative incident or how worse off things could have been. It’s those few people who put things into perspective and make a negative into a positive that have success in life. And I do not mean just financial success, but success in relationships, career, health, and emotional wellbeing.
Within my research I have found that it is simply up to you to decide how you feel and in turn shape where you want to go in life. You have to actively train your brain to think positively and be grateful for the things you have. This positive thinking will bring you good things. It will be a challenge to retrain your brain, but I can guarantee you that it’s worth it.
This short animated YouTube movie depicts just how powerful the mind is and by focusing on something good, even if it’s just a distant thought can bring you peace and positivity.
I think we all lose sight of how powerful our minds are and how important it is to be happy and positive at all times. Like attracts like – so shape your own world by thinking positive!
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged Change Your Thoughts, happiness, motivation, Norman Vincent Peale, Optimism, video
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.
Posted in corporate culture
It’s almost mid November, which, can you believe it, means we should all be starting on our office holiday party planning. Are office parties part of your corporate culture?
Posted in corporate culture
Tagged Christmas and holiday season, happiness, Human Resources, office party, Team building
I believe that so much of one’s success in life comes from one’s ability to use the power of smiling. It’s a shame that life’s demands chip away at something we apparently did so naturally before we were born. Throughout my life, through all my successes and challenges, I have experienced first hand the extraordinary power and strength of what smiling can do. I think I may actually smile more than the average person! Charles Darwin said that the ‘act of smiling itself actually makes us feel better.’ He’s right.
Ron Gutman’s presentation on this Ted video has some fascinating takeaways and interesting insights. You may find yourself pulling out your old highschool yearbook after watching this video. This time, not looking at the hairstyles of your era! As someone who has made a career in the placement of people into companies I was quite taken by some of the concepts Gutman shared.
I would agree readily with Mother Teresa’s statement ‘I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish’. I’m willing to bet that one of the m0st significant traits of the most successful companies today share is the power of the smile. I’d guess that they beat out their competitors in this area by a country mile.
To close, another great example of the power of the smile in action, a favourite of mine, is found in Validation – the art of smile
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged business, empowering, happiness, motivation, Ron Gutman, Smile, TED.com
I rode my bike to work today.
I love the fact that during the summer, my employer doesn’t mind if I wear business casual clothes so that they fold up nicely in my cycling pannier when I commute to work by bicycle. I love the fact that our office building has a secured bike room with shower facilities. I love the fact that I feel refreshed and energized and ready to start a productive work day.
I love the fact that when I came off the Burrard Street Bridge, I got this free T-shirt from bike vancouver. The City of Vancouver is celebrating ‘one year one million bikes’ since the Burrard Street Bridge separated bike lanes came into effect.
Isn’t it great that we live in such an amazing city that offers a variety of opportunities for a healthy lifestyle?
I love riding my bike to work.
Posted in corporate culture
Tagged bike to work, bike vancouver, Burrard bike lane, community, fun, happiness, productivity
For the second year in a row, McNeill Nakamoto has been honoured to be listed as one of Canada’s Progressive Employers. The Progressive Employers of Canada List identifies mom friendly workplaces and was created to ‘encourage organizations to consider the value they offer employees in innovative ways and to share this information with a national network of savvy, educated, professionals, who are looking for more progressive work environments. This list is designed to enhance the dialogue between these employers and employees and ultimately identify more supportive workplaces.’
At McNak we believe that a happy team is a healthy team, one that has work life woven with a balance of business success and personal success. This business philosophy is especially important for those with children. While sometimes challenging to achieve, we encourage our parents to celebrate firsts with their children. By providing an ability for this to take place we are reciprocated with a highly dedicated team who’s work performance probably exceeds many of our competitors. If work couldn’t be fun why do it? Just as important is making it to the annual sport day or first day of swimming lessons.
To view the complete 2010 Progressive Employers of Canada list click here.
Congratulations to all the organizations who made the list. These employers are among a select group of “mom-friendly” employers who are leading progressive change in the Canadian workplace for working parents and their families.
Please share your personal work experiences relating to unique ways of celebrating diversity in the workplace relating to children as well as work life balance. We can always be inspired!
Part of McNak’s corporate culture is our connection to community. Tonight, May 6th we are hosting GrapeJuice, a Wine Auction we created in 2007 to raise funds for Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. This is an event very close to our hearts, and it is what brings us together.
Posted in corporate culture
Tagged community, corporate social responsibility, empowering, happiness, video
My Mom always taught me to write a thank you note right after someone has given me a gift. It was good manners. It was polite.
Canadians, in general are polite. International media regularly reports this about us. When NBC descended upon our city for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the reporters and newscasters got to see us up close and personal, we hoped that our Canadian politeness rubbed off on them a bit. It looks like it did. Brian Williams from NBC wrote a very kind thank you note. This is a tribute to Canada’s culture.
Brian, we’re happy that you had a great experience in Vancouver. Please come back anytime.
Oh, and…”you’re welcome”.
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged community, engagement, happiness, recognition, Vancouver 2010 Olympics
This team knows how to have fun. We like the team’s spontaneous tribute to their corporate culture. It isn’t easy to manufacture corporate culture. And this is a team who has a culture that works. They are so aligned that they will take risks together. Trust is high. And they’ve allowed themselves to have fun. Don’t we all need it once in a while! We’d put bets that this team does some great things together. (perhaps however, not a career in performing arts).
This spontaneous video reminds us of another more structured video where the team is fully engaged and united on a common goal. You can see the magic is real in both environments. Both work. How dull work could be if one couldn’t have smiles on no less than a few faces?
What is your company doing right now to have FUN?
Posted in corporate culture, Employee Engagement
Tagged corporate culture, engagement, fun, happiness, laughter, video
