8 min.
Happiness at work is human
1L’art de la gestion de projet2Un projet à succès commence par une bonne gouvernance3Cascade, agilité, demandes de changement?

Happiness at work is human

  • TECHNICAL LEVEL
Adviso

To have by its side the best human beings with which to achieve its business objectives, the company must push its vision of success further, identify concrete actions to be implemented in order to create a positive, pleasant work environment, and thus directly increase employee satisfaction and therefore, their commitment, loyalty and performance.

 

Have you ever asked yourself the following question:

“What would be the ideal company for me if I had to describe it in one word? »

This question, I asked our experts when I returned from CultureFest 2018. The word cloud put forward in this article presents the answers received. The bigger a word, the more often it came up in responses. Of course, the answers can be as many and varied as there are people on this planet. However, some terms seem to have a similar theme, or at least point to a unanimous outcome:  happiness .

Although not so long ago job candidates were looking above all for security, stability and profitability, we notice that today's workers want to get something deeper out of their jobs, filling the needs of the highest levels of Maslow's pyramid.

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Happiness at work is just as sought after by employers, who, at the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey, put a project into the world out of passion for their field, out of a desire to meet a demand and to respond to a specific mission.

To have by its side the best human beings with which to achieve its business objectives, the company must push its vision of success further, identify concrete actions to be implemented in order to create a positive, pleasant work environment, and thus directly increase employee satisfaction and therefore, their commitment, loyalty and performance.

HOW TO DEFINE CORPORATE CULTURE?

The concept of corporate culture has come a long way since the 19th century and  we see it growing within companies in different ways, with emerging technologies and new generations of workers. But what exactly is corporate culture?

It is in fact a set of principles and initiatives that are conveyed to all members of a company in order to enable them to experience the best possible career with the employer. Just like what we want to offer our customers: a quality product, an unforgettable experience that will lead them to remain loyal to our brand and become our ambassadors to other potential customers.

Already when it was founded in 2002, Adviso planned to incorporate this concept within the very purpose and activities of the company. It is therefore for a little over fifteen years that belonging and happiness at work have been anchored in the hearts of our two partners, Simon Lamarche and Jean-François Renaud.

Obviously, the benefits offered to employees are not the same today as they were more than a decade ago, but their foundation remains the same and is reflected in the values ​​on which all business strategy rests :

#SKILL

#CREW

#BOLDNESS

#TRANSPARENCY

#PLEASURE

When working in a context like this, which makes so much sense on a human level, it is surprising to look around and see that large companies with plenty of resources are not even able to offer the work/family to their employees, for example. A ministerial committee on family-work-study balance was set up in October 2017  specifically to respond more adequately to the needs of workers in Quebec.

It goes without saying that when even the government justifies the establishment of such a committee, the desire for change and innovation is increasingly blatant. There is still a long way to go on several aspects, such as social equity in the workplace, professional development, recognition, etc.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR EMPLOYEES HAPPY AT WORK?

For our large family of nearly 90 individuals, it is essential that everyone can  reach their full potential . Whether through the annual professional development plan, social and  team-building activities , involvement with non-profit organizations, or the opportunity to enjoy fresh fruit in the office every morning, our mission remains uncompromising: ensuring that our employees are satisfied to make them want to invest themselves fully, on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who says mission and objectives, says measure! If we are experts in calculating the performance of your campaigns, we are also experts in evaluating the morale of the troops and collecting employee feedback using tools like  OfficeVibe . Thus, it becomes possible to optimize, that is to say to intervene and implement targeted solutions, when necessary. For example, if all the members of a team inform us of a particularly high occupancy rate over an extended period, it becomes essential for us to provide them with the additional resources required for the good continuation of their activities and thus to also ensure an unchanged quality of work for our customers.

HEALTH AT WORK: A HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY BODY!

The human is the center of any organization: without its workers, regardless of their number, a company cannot be successful. So logically, that these workers are mentally and physically healthy is all the more important!

My raw material takes the elevator every morning.

Serge Godin, founder of CGI

According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, almost a quarter of the Canadian population experiences mental health problems at work. These issues can lead to one or more of the following consequences in the workplace:

  • absenteeism, that is, people are often absent from work;
  • presenteeism, where people show up for work but fail to be fully productive;
  • the resignation of people because of the difficulties they are experiencing at work.

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In Canada, more than 30% of disability claims submitted to insurance companies are related to mental illness. ( Source )

It goes without saying that  the costs associated with these situations are enormous , both for the individual and the company, and for society, while a preventive investment in various employee assistance resources can prevent a problem such as that the anxiety or burnout takes on such magnitude.

The same goes for the physical health of staff, particularly in a digital context, such as at Adviso, where employees have to work in front of a computer for most of their days. Investing in office furniture adapted to the work context, providing varied spaces, such as a section of tables with adjustable height, among other things, offering funding for personal sporting challenges, large and small, helps enormously with physical well-being. of his team!

CORPORATE CULTURE: WHERE TO START?

“But from there, what do we do?, you will ask me. How can we innovate on this concept? How far should we go, or pay, to ensure that our employees benefit from optimal working conditions?”

Obviously, each company's budget is not the same, but the desire to reinvent itself and do better for the humans who contribute to our success is everyone's responsibility.

Simple initiatives can be put in place without necessarily putting a monumental monetary investment into them, and these are the kinds of initiatives that, at certain levels, can even apply to your everyday life for better interpersonal relationships. ;

  • Plan times when your different teams can demystify their respective roles, where veterans of a team can pass on their knowledge #competence
  • Take the time to recognize efforts, successes, people's involvement and verbalize it #team
  • Be creative, inventive in your approach to business, be open to everyone's ideas, be attentive #daring
  • Define its values ​​as a company, find its mission and unite its employees around them #transparency
  • Organize activities for all to forge new bonds between participants #pleasure

 

BE PART OF THE CHANGE

I suggest an exercise for your next dinner with friends, whether you are a digital marketer, a professional working in any other field, a manager or even CEO of your company.

Go around the table and ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do I feel invested and involved in my job/business? Why?
  • Do I have the opportunity to grow and develop in my job/company?
  • Do I have the opportunity to reconcile work and family in my job/company?
  • Is there a real spirit of collaboration with my colleagues/employees and/or my immediate superiors?
  • Is my work recognized by my peers?
  • Is conscious or unconscious discrimination present in my work environment and its processes?
  • What could I do, as an individual, to bring about change?

Good discussion!