Bonjour everyone! This is my second blog post for OBE Organic. It is part of a series of tasks which I’ve been assigned during my 2023 International Internship offered by the Brisbane City Council. I feel very fortunate to be working in a corporate environment and learning more about the production of certified organic beef from the pure heart of Australia.
In this blog post, I would like to share something that I believe is the key to fostering a welcoming, positive, and healthy work environment and it starts with your employees. As beautifully worded by Anne M. Mulcachy, the former CEO and chairwoman of Xerox Corporation;
“Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.”
I could not agree more with her statement. Businesses often forget about the importance of nurturing a positive work environment in order to attract and retain motivated employees that deeply care about their work. An employee will always try to deliver the best work they can, in return, I believe that it is part of the manager’s job to give the employee a good reason to enjoy coming back to work the next day and to work just as hard.
While days off and monetary incentives might of course be appreciated, in the long term, if the working environment is filled with constant stress, competitive co-workers, and greedy executives, I highly doubt a company will manage to retain hard working employees. How does one expect to have happy customers if your employees are unhappy?
During my time in the OBE Organic Brisbane office, a positive and healthy workplace is all I can see around me. Whether it is during lunch breaks, where co-workers spend their lunch chatting and laughing together, when the team are encouraged to take a walk in the botanical garden nearby, or even during staff meetings where the first questions Dalene Wray, our Managing Director, would ask is: ‘Can you tell me a positive work story that happened to you? What are you grateful for?”. All of those little actions combine together to enable such a happy and welcoming atmosphere within the office.
Something that truly touched me is the office’s birthday celebrations! Our kind-hearted Administration Manager Kim Stalley never forgets anyone’s birthday and ensures that on someone’s special day, a delicious cake is put on the table. She even thought to bring a huge basket of fresh fruit and sushi for a co-worker’s birthday, since he did not eat any cake. Whatever your role is in the OBE Organic office, you are treated as a special person, whether it is your birthday or not. OBE Organic truly values its employees and, thanks to this amazing positive work environment, I see all of them with smiles on their faces, working extremely hard, and taking care of their customers the best way possible.
I am beyond grateful to have the opportunity to be part of this team, even if it is just for four weeks.
And yourself? Think about it. What are you grateful for today?
Lastly, I’d like to share this beautiful photo of the OBE Organic team on David’s birthday (David is OBE Organic’s General Manager – Commercial). This delicious cake was bought by Kim, and along with a warm cup of tea, we spend our break chatting and laughing!
Earlier this month I shared my experiences as a newly minted intern in a blog post titled: ‘The steaks are high here – My first day in a corporate environment with OBE Organic’
This internship position is particularly exciting for me, as it is the first time I have the opportunity to fully immerse myself in the corporate environment.
