We go to work for many reasons and for each of us the reason may be a little different. We might work to provide for ourselves and our families, to feel a sense of accomplishment, to satisfy our intellectual or creative curiosity or possibly to contribute to something bigger than ourselves.
Whatever is behind each of our personal motivations for work, what we experience in our organizations creates a tremendous impact. Not surprisingly, the environment in which many of us spend nearly half our waking hours has an impact on our health and well-being, but the effect doesn’t stop there. It ripples ever-outward to our families, friends, communities. Whatever, we experience at work we are likely to pass along to those we come into contact with, whether we intend to or not. I know when I have worked on teams or in organizations where appreciation, optimism and commitment are more common than mistrust, apathy and negativity, I am much more likely to “pass-along” these same positive perspective to friends and family in the evening.
For this reason, I was thrilled to share last Thursday evening with our Mayerson team at the Business Courier’s Best Places to Work event. It was inspiring to see so many Cincinnati organizations committed to intentionally creating their work environment. While every organization approached the objective differently, many talked about creating an environment where colleagues were growing, supported, challenged and appreciated. While I know these intentional efforts will have an important impact on each of our businesses in terms of engagement, productivity and more, I also know with each policy and practice that energizes what is best in each of us we are creating an impact that goes well beyond our organizations. We are changing the positive possibilities for our entire community.
