Today, Bop Design is attending the San Diego BBB Torch Awards, an annual event “promoting and fostering the highest ethical relationship between businesses and the public through voluntary self-regulation, consumer, and business education.” Sounds great, right? What business wouldn’t agree with the importance of “ethical relationships” and “voluntary self-regulation”? Probably very few. Yet many let the days on the calendar pass without taking the time to reflect on these values and take action.
As our team learns from other companies at today’s event, here are some practices that Bop Design follows in order to align our business goals and values:
Regular team building
Bop Design partners with Sherry Nooravi and Strategy Meets Performance to conduct quarterly team building sessions geared toward improving not only our work communication, but also applying skills to our everyday personal lives. As an agency, relationship building is at the core of our business and learning better communication methods to handle customer service concerns ensures our clients are satisfied not just with the end product, but also with team performance.
Helping the community
It’s no surprise that large corporations tout their community outreach on their websites, blogs, and social media. Even Walmart hosts a separate Twitter account called @WalmartGiving just to share its volunteerism, fundraising, and community involvement across its more than 8,500 U.S. store locations. While our small office only has six full time employees, it doesn’t mean we can’t make a difference in our San Diego headquarters. Bop Design regularly participates in 2-3 community events per year, most recently the Coronado Low Tide Ride & Stride and the American Heart Association Heart Walk. We suggest finding activities your employees are already interested in and participate in opportunities around that nonprofit.
Business transparency
Outside of internal relations, an element to the success of Bop Design is our transparency with clients. Our clients come to us with a variety of needs; some need an “all-hands-on-deck” marketing approach while others are just looking for assistance in supporting an established strategy or brand. Regardless, each business is provided honest feedback in terms of solutions, timing, and cost.
Continuous improvement
The first two tips are helpful in getting the ball rolling, but without continuous effort most workplace activities and events are just a flash in the pan. Without consistency, employees will fail to take future ideas seriously. If your personnel do not have the time to juggle multiple activities in a calendar year, think about combining ideas. For example, there can be an internal fundraiser in advance of the office holiday party or a simple one-hour team building exercise that is accomplished during a lunch break. Find the right balance between available time and interest so habitual exercises don’t become scheduling pains.
To get more ideas on healthy workplace relationships, read some of these helpful posts from the Bop Blog and BBB:
