managerial initiative

[mephisto794]

Today we had a (positively) strange meeting at office ....

We were gently asked to form or elect a small comittee (out of the ~ 15 employees we are) that would be responsible of making social activities and enhancing the quality of the stay at office.

According to its character (outing, dinner, decoration for the office, a birthday...), an activity would be completely or partially financed by the company

I see this as a motivating initiative: the employees are asked to choose the best accomodations that would help them feel better at work and within the teams, and thus boost the productivity.

needless to say that we all were delighted with that proposal.

just to think that some managers make the employees pay for the coffee they drink to stay focused at work .... and then start nagging that the employees are not giving 100 % and so on....

[chicham]

I love this Management approach,
I always felt bad when I saw Managers minimizing the effect of these "little things"
WorkPlace should be something else,
Productivity with all the rest.
Still, this is not always the case, especially in Lebanon,
maybe this kind of initiative could have paradoxal effects on the company,
it all depends on the kind of relationship between the Executives and the emplyoyees,
Thats what I love about it, there is nothing "Fixed"
no " Fixed " theories, just have to adapt,
of course there is a strict minimum, like not making employees pay for a cup of coffee !
but this "initiative", well, IMO, isnt an absolute solution.

But Im happy for you mephisto :)

[SeekNirvana]

Word.

Do you guys also have flexible hours? This can also be motivating for employees if it can be afforded of course.

It's really important to have those "new" managerial perspectives put into action for the benefit of the organization as a whole.

[mephisto794]

Originally Posted by mkhoury

Do you guys also have flexible hours? This can also be motivating for employees if it can be afforded of course.

It's really important to have those "new" managerial perspectives put into action for the benefit of the organization as a whole.

We do have flexible hours indeed.
our company is more like project-oriented. delays are tolerated, given that the project deadlines are not affected.

this flexible timeframe 'offered' from the management will be implicitely payed back by the employees when they are ready to work overtime without complaining and without 'terbi7 jmileh' (=> no overtime hour paid, which is ok, since no schedule-based penalties are being deducted)

[dodzi]

Totaly true. It's not for nothing most offices in "civilised" countries are garnished with plants, good view, good lighting, free use of a espresso machine, etc., and that's not just for the benefit of the lazy employee. Such accomodations really help employees to be at ease in their office, to like going to work and to give their full potential... I also saw a documentary about offices bying dogs that walk around offices for the good mood of the employees!

What disturbes me the most about lebanese bosses (and that's known all around the world, without being a generalization), is that they treat employees as slaves... My father, who wasn't the boss but had many employees working under his autority, never once yelled at his employees, yet they were doing a great job...

Good mood... good job!

[SeekNirvana]

I had the chance to work at a large company. The services offered are incredible, and coming from a Lebanese background your first reaction would be "Are you crazy?"

Imagine, you have access to a free gym, free parking, dental plan, free access to many digital libraries, software licensing as needed: no questions asked, flexible hours, work from home possibilities, a great campus outside the city's crowdness, it's just amazing what some companies do to satisfy their employees.

[Lebanese_dream]

Most of big companies in France have an obligatory commitee who are generally called the CE ( comité d'entreprise) or they took people from the human ressources department...
They organized annual dinner or lunch, repas de noel, gifts for every children of the employees, reduction in some destination ( exemple my sis get a ticket to Martinique with Hotel for one week : 450 euros while the ticket for Martinique is alone 750 euros). In some CE, they organize trips for the employees children together for a symbolic price!
This year in my internship, I was responsible to call all CE of big firms and propose them the service of my client which was providing teachers to the children of the employees who have trouble in studying ( soutien scolaire)...
In France, if there is not a CAntine to eat in the company for 3 or 4 euros per day, the CE provide to each employee Ticket restaurant of 6, 7 or 8 euros depending from the firm for a whole month and the employee can use them in any restaurant in France.
Anyway, i am impressed to see that a small structure is trying to do so! But it is a good initiative especially in lebanon where nothing isdone for employees!
Believe me, Meph, you are lucky where you are!

[mephisto794]

I recently got my MBA degree (rather an attestation!) and presented it to the boss without making a big deal out of it, given that I was recruited because i had an mba (i still had to present my memoire).

On the same day, she (secretly) prepared, with the complecity of other colleagues, for a small ceremony to "celebrate my achievement".

Even though that would sound a normal reaction from the side of the employer, this kind of granted them my ..... fidelity ? and encouraged me to persue another degree , knowing that this would be appreciated!

What i mean is that many of friends and ex-colleagues do look after higher degrees, in the hope of getting a better job in ANOTHER COMPANY, since their achievements are rarely noticed, and ofter ridiculized, in the company where they work.

This small 'geste my boss prepared made her gain more fidelity from me, and i can honestly say that I started feeling more engaged and personnally involved in my assigned tasks.

[Hye4Lebanon]

Originally Posted by mephisto794

I recently got my MBA degree (rather an attestation!) and presented it to the boss without making a big deal out of it, given that I was recruited because i had an mba (i still had to present my memoire).

On the same day, she (secretly) prepared, with the complecity of other colleagues, for a small ceremony to "celebrate my achievement".

Even though that would sound a normal reaction from the side of the employer, this kind of granted them my ..... fidelity ? and encouraged me to persue another degree , knowing that this would be appreciated!

What i mean is that many of friends and ex-colleagues do look after higher degrees, in the hope of getting a better job in ANOTHER COMPANY, since their achievements are rarely noticed, and ofter ridiculized, in the company where they work.

This small 'geste my boss prepared made her gain more fidelity from me, and i can honestly say that I started feeling more engaged and personnally involved in my assigned tasks.

Excellent news and congrats on your MBA.

I have many managers report to me and many employees report to them. When I realize a small achievement from any of my team members, I make a note of it and use that in order to give them the praise they deserve. And if they go out of their way or "above and beyond", I give them the a "free" day or some gift cards to a fancy restaurant which I hand over during my meetings so all can see, and during the yearly review, I give them the raise they deserve.

I realized that they actually worked harder and never questioned my decisions when you treat them very well. When critisizing, I use constructive critisizm as opposed to "putting them down". And always in private of course.

Your manager seems to be going on the right track. There are many "in the box" managers out there, or so called "old school". You have a good one, and its very rewarding to go to the office wanting to go, as opposed to having to go.

Good job and keep up the good work.