Relationships with colleagues play an important role in overall employee satisfaction at work. Companies therefore implement a variety of programs to promote teamwork in the spirit of their values. If your corporate values include fun, creativity and innovation, we have a tip for you on how to improve relationships between your employees. A story about an interesting employee program was recently covered by the U.S. CBS television station.
FreshBooks, a provider of financial services headquartered in Toronto, Canada, has grown to more than 250 employees. In addition to having an open door for employees' dogs, and allowing employees to choose whether to sit or stand while doing their work, the company has just introduced a program of blind dates. The aim of the program is to get colleagues together who would otherwise not meet and keep their corporate culture as friendly as it was at the beginning when everybody knew one another in the company.
Honourable dates
The program's author, Mary Grace Antonio, says that the dates take place in a friendly, professional atmosphere and their purpose is to get to know each other, talk about work-related issues and share experiences. The initial phase of the program was held in teams when volunteers from various departments gathered for lunch or coffee. Now each date is for only two pepeople from across the entire company. Senior managers, for example, may meet newly hired graduates.
The program participants confirm that having a date with an unknown colleague is not as embarrassing as they had originally feared. They usually find a common topic both of them are dealing with in their everyday work and have a great talk. They share common values, and subsequently put the new ideas that emerged from the dates into practice. Occasionally, a date does not go well, but that's life.
The CBS video from FreshBooks is available on this page.
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