Somewhere along the journey, we agreed that the
vision for our business needed to include serving as a model of an
"enlightened" (yes we really used that word) workplace. We're
a business research company, which can be pretty boring - until you
find the noble purpose for doing the research in the first
place. We don't cure cancer - but we are all about helping
companies figure out how to connect the dots between people &
profits. We serve the service sector, and we believe in the
service profit chain. Great places to work have a much better
chance of being profitable in the long run.
So we spend a lot of time studying what the best companies do to
recruit, engage and retain a talented and committed
workforce. We can give you more statistics and analytics than
you want about the impact of compensation, benefits, diversity,
community involvement, strategic philanthropy, etc. on your workers
and your workplace. For example, did you know that having pet
insurance has a positive impact, even though it doesn't cost the
company anything, and a lot of your employees don't have pets? We
advocate life coaching, sabbaticals, flex time, the occasional free
lunch and lots of celebrations.
Beyond the research, our conferences are always about what is
going on in the lives of the workforce, their values, and how you
can leverage both the obvious and the latest cutting edge ideas to
be a top employer. Lately we have talked a lot about how the
recession has caused a lot of us to reevaluate how we spend our
time, what we really need to be comfortable, and how many of us are
stressed and burnt out. We talk a lot about purpose, lifelong
learning, and meaningful work. We've also talked about how
the different generations are responding differently to all of the
above. We know for example that GenX workers are not
married to their jobs - they are more likely to be focused on their
families as their primary value. It's easy to spew all of the
statistics in reports and presentations - not so easy when the
statistics are your own - and they represent someone you value as a
colleague, a friend and a great employee.
Today we are having a celebration - to celebrate almost four
great years, but sadly the last day of one of our own colleagues,
Kacy Oden. If you know her you love her - and will miss her
as much as we do. Kacy is leaving so she can work at home,
take care of her own children, be the support for an incredible
(but frequently traveling) spouse, and a caregiver for an
extended family. The picture says it all. No matter how hard
you work at being a great place to work, sometimes the statistics
catch up with you too, and the best practice is to be grateful for
the time you worked together, wish them the best, and promise to
stay in touch. Thank you, Kacy. We'll miss you.
You can reach Kacy at mkkcoden@gmail.com or follow
her personal blog at http://kacyoden.tumblr.com/.