By Sarah Liverance
Over the years, our team of associates has created valuable tools and frameworks to help our clients solve tough business challenges, unlock growth opportunities, and build stronger brands. But, in every case, it was our people – their energy, ideas, experiences, and thought leadership – that made those solutions successfully come to life. As a professional services company, our “product” really is our people.
We know we need to focus on our people if we want to build a business that is sustainable over the long term, which is why we’ve chosen to invest significant time and resources in the growth and development of our team.
That’s why we were thrilled to learn that we were recognized by The Globe and Mail and Morneau Shepell as an Employee Recommended Workplace. This award means we‘ve been successful in promoting and achieving a healthy, engaged, and productive workforce in various aspects of health – physical, mental, work, and life. That translates to whole person health – something we’re passionate about.
We’re especially thrilled to have earned this honour twice in a row. It reaffirms last year’s win as the number one Employee Recommended Workplace among small companies and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to ensure every associate has the resources they need to be productive and happy in various aspects of their lives. Of course, since we’re a marketing advisory firm with deep roots in research, we like to think of this as test-retest reliability!
This award is based solely on feedback from our associates, our people. There were no fancy write-ups or nomination packages, and no marketing speak. Just the straight goods straight from them. So I offer a big thank you to our associates. You made this award happen.
Our people are what it’s all about and it shows in our People Flywheel , our philosophy for who we are and how we run our company. For example, some of its key features include:
- Hire the Best: Not only do we screen for experience and skill sets, each person we hire must have “help others succeed” in their DNA and demonstrate natural alignment with our 5 core beliefs.
- Engage & Support: Our engagement program targets our drivers including learning and development, interesting and challenging work, and a sense of personal accomplishment.
- Whole Person Development (our Spirit 32 program): We equip our associates with a toolkit they can draw on to make them happier, more successful professionals, parents, spouses, friends, daughters, and sons. Some of our Spirit 32 initiatives have focused on mindfulness, energy management, emotional intelligence, and having a growth mindset.
I’m looking forward to the upcoming Employee Recommended Workplace conference happening on March 20, 2018. I will be participating in a panel discussion with other ERW winning organizations, sharing lessons we’ve learned about becoming an ERW, including key drivers of employee wellness, productivity, and engagement. We’re also going to share some actionable strategies to help others improve their workplace, and bolster employee health, happiness, and the bottom line.
Our goal for our now 31 year old company is to be an Employee Recommended Workplace every year for at least the next 30 years. With that in mind, I hope to see you at the conference this year, and for the next thirty years!