A brief insight into Great Place To Work, and lessons from great workplaces

1. GREAT WORKPLACES
Monthly E- Newsle er
July 2021
EDITOR'S NOTE:
We are delighted to present the maiden edi on of GREAT
WORKPLACES, our monthly e-newsle er, where we
celebrate Companies and the Cultures that make
organiza ons great places to work. There's no be er me
than this July when we can look back at how organiza ons
become Great Workplaces having the me le of Trust,
Camaraderie and all the other ingredients of great
workplaces. We sincerely hope that in the weeks to come,
your organiza on will add boosters to your thrust!
How do you build a great place to
work?
By Otamere Elegon, GPTW Country Head
How to Relieve Stress: Tips for
Employees, Line Managers and
Organiza ons
By George Ndugbu
Having commenced the second half of 2021, it is only prudent to
take stock of where we are as organisa ons, and what we have
achieved thus far. Ques ons like, how far have we faired? Where
did we drop the ball? When we dropped the ball, did we pick it
up again, or leave it there feeling discouraged, or probably even
passed or shared the blame for the failure with others? Also, It is
important as organisa ons to want to know if the targets set for
the end of the year are s ll achievable or whether there is a
need to reevaluate upwards or downwards.
A lot of mes organisa ons are quick to only look at the Strategic
goals to determine if organiza onal goals are being met. This is
commendable. However, do you know what would be excellent,
and near perfect? It would be for company execu ves to also
look at their organiza on’s Culture goals side by side the
Strategic goals because while Strategy defines direc on and
focus, Culture is the habitat in which Strategy lives or dies (don’t
worry I would not use the famous quote, ” Culture eats strategy
for breakfast”, Oh I just did!), and this has been proven me and
again.
Our Understanding of this fact is what has driven us as an
organisa on globally, for the last 40 years! Our quest to improve
employee experience across the whole spectrum of the
organisa on has made us the No.1 global research, analy cs,
consul ng and training firm that helps organiza ons iden fy,
create, promote and sustain great workplaces through the
development of high-trust workplace cultures. How did this all
begin!
History: A Legacy of Four Decades
A quick delve into our history would provide some insights into
how great workplaces are built.
Great Place to Work® began with an unexpected discovery. In
1981 a New York editor asked two business journalists – Robert
Levering and Milton Moskowitz – to write a book called ‘The 100
Best Companies to Work for in America’. Though the pair were
skep cal of finding 100 companies that would qualify, they
agreed, star ng a journey that would lead to 40 years of
researching, recognizing, and building great workplaces.
Con nue in the next page >>>
The main task of organisa ons is to create an environment
where employees feel comfortable saying “I’m struggling”-
knowing that this is not a sign of weakness, but of strength.
First things first: stress is not necessarily a bad thing, nor a
mental health issue in itself. Yes, significant acute stress feels
overwhelmingly unpleasant in the moment, and over me
chronic stress can lead to burnout in the worst case, but no
stress isn’t an op mal scenario either.
Moderate amounts of well-managed stress can indeed boost
your wellbeing by providing a sense of challenge, mo va on
and growth. Think of the nerves felt before giving an important
presenta on or speech – this is good stress (also known as
eustress), pushing you to be your best.
The key is keeping stress levels in this middle range of the
spectrum.
Secondly, stress affects us all differently, and we also deal with it
differently. As with most things, this is not a one-size-fits-all
scenario; only you individually can know what works for you.
Since stress levels inevitably fluctuate in our personal and
professional lives, func onal coping mechanisms are key to
ensuring it doesn’t get the be er of us. Effec ve stress relievers
are numerous and varied in nature, typically involving exercise,
social interac on and crea ve ac vi es such as music, reading,
wri ng, cooking or even handicra s – all of which possess a
therapeu c element counterac ng the build-up of stress.
It’s important to find the ac vity that resonates with you, and
build habits to integrate those stress relievers into your daily
work-life balance. As these eventually become second nature,
stress bus ng habits will guard your resilience and ability to
cope. For more acute situa ons, relaxa on exercises involving
deep breathing and mindfulness can give immediate relief to an
overexcited stress response.

2. >>> Con nua on from previous page
What was the core insight uncovered by the pair’s extensive research? It was that
the key to crea ng a great workplace was not a prescrip ve set of employee
benefits, programs, and prac ces, but the building of high-quality rela onships in
the workplace — rela onships characterized by trust, pride, and camaraderie.
These rela onships weren’t a “so ” ac vity, but key drivers that help improve an
organiza on’s business performance. The role of trust in the workplace became
core.
These insights led to the founding of Great Place to Work® Ins tute. Business
leaders around the world adopted the Ins tute’s models and methodology as a
valuable way to measure and create great workplaces. In 1997, FORTUNE (in the
United States) partnered with the Ins tute’s research arm to produce the world’s
first 100 Best Companies to Work For workplace rankings. Great Place to Work®
gradually opened doors in more than 100 countries around the world with more
growth slated in the coming years.
Today
Today, Great Place to Work® Ins tute partners with many of the most successful
and innova ve businesses around the world to create, study, and recognize great
workplaces. During the course of a typical year, Great Place To Work works with
more than 10,000 organiza ons, represen ng over 10 million employees. These
partnerships con nually build our unique exper se, including our mul -industry
workplace culture benchmarking and best prac ce databases. Our premiere Best
Workplaces lists are published or distributed by market-leading news media
around the world, to an audience of more than 25 million readers. The
combina on of this direct advisory work and media coverage is all core to how we
create a be er society by helping companies transform their workplaces.
Great Place To Work Nigeria has been in the business of cer fying companies as
great workplaces since 2012. We have also helped companies become great
workplaces through various interven ons we have put in place for these
companies.
Being in the second half of 2021 it is appropriate that you ask yourself some
per nent ques ons as business execu ves or human resources leaders; Is my
Company a Great Place To Work? What key quali es make my organisa on a great
place to work? What is the level of Trust within my organisa on? How can I know
for certain that employees in my organisa on are willing to give their personal
best for the good of the organisa on?
These and many more can be determined through the Great Place To Work
Employee Engagement Trust Index Survey.
Email:
NG_info@greatplacetowork.com
Nigeria Address:
9B Adedotun Dina Street,
Maryland Lagos, Nigeria
Employee Wellbeing in a
Post COVID-19 World
By Lloyd
In most parts of the world, the effects of
covid-19 are yet to wear off and economies and
social life are just revving up. Even for Nigeria
where, like some parts of Africa, the situa on
was nowhere as severe as in Europe and
America, social life is yet to get back fully to
pre-COVID ac vi es. It becomes easy to see how
the near absence of this impacts the overall
wellbeing of employees in organiza ons.
Presently, facili es like the Na onal Stadium,
gyms, pools, etc are closed. As part of the
covid-19 protocol by the Presiden al Task Force
(PTF), Night Clubs, Parks are to be closed to
check the impact of the much touted “second
wave”. Every aspect of social life has people
clinging to it for dear life, as it were: mental
health, physical health
The impact of a regimented social life or a near
lack of it reflects on the workplace. How are
people able to balance work and life without
visi ng their favorite pubs, working out in the
gym, discussing in large groups? A poll
conducted with 2000 people showed that
physical exercise dropped by 25%. Physical
wellbeing seems to have been affected
greatly. The impact of this deficiency on society
will inadvertently be felt in the output at work
and this will affect produc vity some mes
significantly.
The way out will be that Companies must begin
to look inwards towards providing alterna ves
that will provide a bridge over the gap created by
one of the world’s most deadly diseases. Since
the workplace can be a fun place as much as it is
a serious place, HR managers can look towards
crea ng environments for relaxa on within the
work se ng. Mini gyms, a small bar (even if
non-alcoholic), an a er-work comedy skit, a
controlled picnic (within the ambit of the
covid-19 protocols), etc.
Right atmospheres have ways of bringing out the
best in employees. Companies must work to
provide the right atmosphere for be er
produc vity.
Telephone:
+2348138641300 +2348034023883
+2348033540194 +2348104373764