By Chris Ferdinandi on January 27, 2011 - Comments Off
So many people in the US, myself included, take for granted the immense amount of freedom we have to say and do things. Watching this video of the protests going on in Egypt right now was a moving and not-so-subtle reminder.
If you don’t want to sit through all three minutes, jump to the 1:25 mark and watch protesters stand down Egyptian riot police and water cannons.
It’s amazing to think that just a generation ago black people in this country were blasted with water cannons because they understood that separate is never equal. It’s amazing to think that right now gays and lesbians in this country still don’t have equal rights under the law.
And it’s amazing that in countries around the world, people don’t have the freedom to say what I’m saying right now.
Is everyone treated equally in your organization – not just as a matter of policy, but as a matter of practice?
By Chris Ferdinandi on November 1, 2010 - 7 Comments
I’ve noticed that every organization has at least two (often three) levels of culture:
Organizational Culture. This is what most people think of when you talk about workplace culture. What’s it like to work at Acme Corporation?
Locational Culture. If your organization has more than one location, each one will often have it’s own culture. It fits into the bigger organizational culture (usually), but has it’s own unique quirks and idiosyncrasies.
Team Culture. Within each building or location, culture varies even further still by the team you’re on. The HR culture is different from the marketing culture, which is different from sales, and so on. It still falls under the cultural umbrellas of the organization and location, but the team culture is unique.
Have you seen this trend where you’ve worked? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? What role do HR professionals, business leaders and employees all play in shaping workplace culture?
And of course the “big” question: Can you shape and control culture?
By Chris Ferdinandi on October 25, 2010 - Comments Off
Four years ago, Traci Wood walked into the Tipton County Animal Shelter, in Tipton, TN, in search of her friend’s lost dog, Snowflake.
Snowflake wasn’t there (she was found alive and well later that day), but what Traci saw shocked and saddened her. “The pitiful dogs and cats that I saw there that morning – some injured, many sick, cold and wet – and the absolute hopeless expressions on their little faces made my heart sink to my feet.”
Tipton County has an 85-percent kill rate. For every ten dogs that go in, about nine never leave.
Traci started going to the shelter several times a week. She took photos of the dogs and posted them on Petfinder. She emailed various rescue groups around the country asking for help.
One-by-one, she started pulling dogs out of Tipton County and placing them in loving homes.
By Chris Ferdinandi on September 20, 2010 - Comments Off
When people love their jobs, and you give them the freedom to do amazing things, they create awesome and hilarious videos like the one below. It was made by a team of virtualization specialists at EMC (and you may need to be a bit of a tech nerd to really appreciate it).
What a great piece of employer branding, and it cost the company nothing but a few hours of time and a boatload of enthusiasm and creativity.
Make sure you sit through the credits for the bonus footage.
On our way back to the car, we stopped at this ice cream place that had Bliss Dairy ice cream. If you’re not from the MA area, Bliss makes incredible ice cream.
While we were waiting in line, I noticed that the people in front of us never said “please” when ordering.
“I’ll have mint-chocolate chip. Do you have whipped cream? Add a cherry, too.”
If you want to build an organization with a great culture, pay attention to how candidates treat the person in your reception area. The way people treat service employees says a lot.
I had a really interesting discussion the other day about whether or not work should be fun.
The resounding opinion was that work isn’t fun – it’s satisfying. Doing challenging things. Helping others. Doing work that’s well aligned with someone’s passions and strengths.
Fun, people felt, comes from the relationships with their coworkers. From the work environment. From the culture.
