Watershed Solutions Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Culture’

Turn the Pages of Facebook’s Employee Engagement Initiatives

Wendy Woods’ highly anticipated interview with Facebook’s very own Stuart Crabb (Head of Learning and Development) is now available for public listening. Gain valuable insight on the talent management programs that are sweeping the world of social media by storm,  as well as an exclusive opportunity to learn how Facebook, one of the most successful and innovative companies of our time, is using employee engagement to its advantage.

Ready to unlock the mysteries of Facebook’s brightest talent?

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“There are few, if any, jobs in which ability alone is sufficient. Needed, also, are loyalty, sincerity, enthusiasm and team play.” –William B. Given, Jr. Author

“When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home.” –Betty Bender, Motivational Speaker

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” –Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

”Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” –James M. Barrie, Scottish Author and Dramatist

“The test of the artist does not lie in the will with which he goes to work, but in the excellence of the work he produces.” –Thomas Aquinas, Catholic Priest

Last week I had the opportunity to hear Shannon Deegan, Director of People Operations at Google, speak at the Strategic Capability Network.  Not only is Shannon incredibly personable and energetic (we had a chance to chat before his presentation about our hometown of Montreal) but his presentation was fascinating.  He shared how Google attracts and keeps great talent and encourages them to innovate even if it doesn’t directly impact the bottom-line.

While Google doesn’t believe that you can manage creativity and innovation, here is how they encourage it:

• 20% time - Every employee is asked to spend 20% of their time on an innovative project where the goal is cool not profit.  Projects emerge as individuals focus on an interest or passion. For example, Google sky was developed by a group of workers who all share a passion for astronomy.

• Celebrate mistakes – Awards are given to the team with the most spectacular project bomb. Often project failures provide functionality and ideas that are incorporated into other products. Google’s founders say “We don’t mind if you fail, just try and do it as quickly as possible”. They also encourage learning from mistakes.

• Transparency – Management is transparent about the operations of the company and encourages employees to ask questions. Every Friday the Founders and Executives present goals, visions to the world wide offices which is the same presentation they give a week later to the board.

• Give people freedom and they will amaze you – Google isn’t concerned about checking people’s hours. They trust that people will do the job and also do what makes them happy (e.g. get a massage on site or workout)

• Agility - Create an organization that is agile which for Google means a few things.  They create only as much structure as needed.  They also provide the raw materials so that employees can focus on what they do best and spend little time chasing down a new mouse or someone to fix their computers. In fact Google has Tech Stops and Depots where you can drop in to get your computer fixed or pick up equipment needs.

Granted not every company can be a Google but I believe we can always bring more creativity and innovation to any business.  Think about what strategies you could implement to promote greater innovation and creativity within your organization.

Me with Tony Hsieh: Image Courtesy of Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman

I laughed to myself as I headed to my breakfast presentation last Wednesday on Happiness at Work. That’s a topic that never would have attracted an audience when I started my career.  Happiness at work didn’t even enter our minds. It was all about making money, your mark and climbing the corporate ladder. How things have changed …and for the better.

Tony Hsieh talked to a packed audience about his experience at Zappos and his new book Delivering Happiness after selling his multimillion dollar business LinkExchange to Microsoft.  He shared how Zappos created an outstanding service company with a unique culture built around happiness.  Here’s in part how they accomplish this:

• Hired for cultural fit. Each employee has two sets of interviews one is solely focused on cultural fit. They wanted to avoid people who didn’t mesh and could erode the culture over time.

• Everyone gets the same training and spends 2 weeks answering phones. They want to ensure that everyone understands, experiences, and behaves in line with the commitment to service

• Employees who finish the training program are offered $2,000 to leave the company. They want employees who believe in the future of the company. Also they find that the percentage who don’t take it return more engaged.

• Employees contribute to a Culture Book. Employees have the opportunity to write about what the culture means to them  They can write anything, the good, bad and the ugly, because only spelling and grammar are edited.

• Teach employees how to Tweet. This is another way that Zappos builds culture.

Tony talked about many other ways (e.g. commitment to core values, commit to a higher purpose) that Zappos delivers happiness to their employees and outstanding service to their customers.  However, his book Delivering Happiness is worth reading to find out a wonderful way of working where happiness is the norm.

I only wish this concept was around when I started my career so I could have been happier sooner.

Thanks to Emmanuel Lopez for taking the picture.

Health costs have become a vital part of today’s business expenses especially in the States. In a WebMd Health Services webinar, healthcare costs were reported to be worth 17% of U.S. GDP and about $25,000 per employee.  Apparently 88% of these costs are attributed to personal lifestyle so it’s important for management to create a culture of health for their employees.

Successful strategies have included benefits (such as cash and work related incentives) to contests, health coaching (which include both online evaluations and onsite professionals), and worksite events.  Benefits have shown to increase participation in health related activities up to 85%. Contests can motivate your employees, especially if they are competitive to change their lifestyle choices. Health coaching can work to change behaviours to promote healthier lifestyles. Worksite events include health fairs to onsite biometric screenings (onsite health evaluators) which can add energy to health initiatives and the workplace.

These payoffs are high and save employers money. Statistics show that in American companies, for every dollar spent on wellness programs, medical costs fell by $3.27. Also, employers who implemented online health watch programs showed dramatic changes in the lifestyles of their employees. In a survey of 20,000 employees, 43% had said that they had started an exercise program, 40% had changed their diet and 26% said they scheduled a preventative exam.

With medical costs growing these days, companies need to start promoting a culture of health. Research shows that an investment in health dramatically decreases the costs of healthcare. A healthier workplace not only increases the well being of employees, but makes them more productive as well.