Employee Engagement is the New Black, or Orange

I was in a meeting last week when one manager turned to another and asked, “What’s that buzzword everyone’s using these days?”

It turns out the buzzword wasn’t engagement, but it might as well have been. In our work, you can’t turn a corner without stumbling into the phrase “employee engagement” or “organizational engagement”. By which we really mean “strong culture” and “employees who act like they care”.

The new graphic from the folks at Good.co – and the supporting findings below it – offers plenty of perspective on why everything is coming up engaged these days. (infographic after the jump)

Get to Know the Team: Caroline!

To kick off 2015, we'll be featuring one member of the Floricane team on our blog each week, using a questionnaire that really asks the tough questions.

This week: Caroline Moyer (me!). I joined the Floricane team in November of 2012, six months after graduating from UVa. Though I started as a part-time project coordinator, I'm now Floricane's full-time Events & Marketing Coordinator. Here's how I answered our team Q&A!

Do you want to rock n’ roll all night or party every day?
Party every day!

Caroline6.jpg

Pie or Cake?
Cake is better than pie, always.

Do you have a favorite Sharpie color?
Yes! Metallic gold.

Your favorite place for dinner?
Too hard to choose! I’d have to go with Alamo BBQ in Church Hill.

What is your motto?
“Nobody’s perfect, I gotta work it.” –Miley Cyrus

What are three things you love about Richmond?
The tight-knit community, the amazing art and design scene, and the fabulous craft beer.

If we looked at your Facebook page, what might surprise us?
I used to play competitive roller derby for the Mother State league. 

And lastly, what are the things that excite you most about Floricane, its clients and the community in 2015?
I’m excited to see our clients, new and old, grow into even stronger organizations!

Creating a Different Future Is Pure Strategy

In strategic planning, one of the hardest steps to take often is away from what we already know.

What if the product your organization has relied on so heavily for years vanished, and was replaced with something else? What if that long-term partnership dissolved, and you forged a new path forward solo? What if your funding model looked completely different three years from now? 

Imaging the future is hard work. It can be scary work. But it is probably the most important, and strategic, work an organization can do. 

Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Harvard Business professor Hiro Takeuchi:

“The world is in flux,” he says, “and the only constant is the drastic change that is coming. We live in an era where discontinuity is the only constant. The good old days are gone.”

If they were ever really here. 

Creating a New Museum Along the River

ACWM logo

The merger of the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar and the Museum of the Confederacy more than a year ago isn’t exactly old news. But the new American Civil War Museum’s (ACWM) vision for its riverfront property at Tredegar is an exciting story.

Plans call for the opening of a major new museum on the Tredegar site – along with a robust education center and outside exhibits – in the spring of 2017. Our team is working with the ACWM management this spring on anchoring the new institution’s long-term vision with a clear, shorter-term operational plan. Three campuses, two collections and a huge amount of new, heavy lifting make the case for alignment and collaboration.

Culture Drives Everything

Culture Drives Everything

Two recent engagements – one with a larger client, the second with a prospective client – reminds me how essential it is for senior leaders to understand workplace culture without oversimplifying it. It’s a message echoed in a great post by Culture University’s Tim Kuppler at Switch & Shift:

"The #1 workplace culture challenge is convincing your CEO or top leader that some aspect of culture requires their personal attention. How is culture impacting performance? Why should they care? Why is culture at the root of some of their most difficult challenges? Why they should and must DO SOMETHING." -Tim Kuppler

Kuppler continues that the why question must addressed first, that senior leadership has understand with clarity and some depth why workplace culture is an issue in the organization. A rushed job on the why is going to equal a rushed job on the how – as in how we will work to address workplace culture gaps.

Get to Know the Team: Debra!

To kick off 2015, we'll be featuring one member of the Floricane team on our blog each week, using a questionnaire that really asks the tough questions.

This week: Debra Saneda, Floricane's resident coaching expert. Debra is a certified coach who has spent over ten years working with organizations, teams, and individuals, helping them to achieve their goals. She's a great listener and a keeps our team in harmony with each other. Get to know her a little more!

Do you want to rock n’ roll all night or party everyday? Rock ‘n roll all night.

Which President would you most like to have a drink with, past or present? JFK

Pie or Cake or Neither?  PIE

Your favorite place for dinner? The Boathouse at Sunday Park – or any restaurant with a water view.

What do you most value in your friends? Loyalty, sense of humor and when they push me to be my best.

Who are your favorite writers?  Anne Lamott and Adyashanti

The natural talent that you’d like to be gifted with? to sing

Excluding your work a Floricane, who was your best boss, and why? Rich was one of the best bosses I have had because he walked the talk. He was open to ideas, challenged my thinking and gave me opportunities to do things I never thought I could. He lead with a pure belief in people and that together we can accomplish great things.

What is your go-to book, relative to the work you do with Floricane, and why? Hard to pick just one: Change Your Questions, Change Your Life by Marilee Adams. Also, Good to Great by Jim Collins and several books/resources on Emotional Intelligence.

And lastly, what are the things that excite you most about Floricane, its clients and the community in 2015? The opportunity to work with great clients doing great work in the community. Our new offerings such as the Leadership Circle and the Manager Development Program are exciting because we get to try new approaches to our work.

Thanks, Debra!

Memoirs of an Intern

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So sitting here in my normal chair, surrounded by the orange and yellow walls to which I’ve grown quite accustomed, I’ve realized a few things. First, that I need a chair with a proper back in order to do any decent work. I don’t know how John and Theran can operate in stools all day. Second, how much that working with Floricane has done for me.

Coming in, I had a vague idea of what duties might await me, while the specifics kept me on edge. What if I messed up? Truth is, John would probably laugh at me, and Caroline would give me some sort of reassurance. The laid back approach of the team here definitely saved my frail college student ego from getting shattered by the reality of the working world, and for that I am grateful.

In some ways, Floricane and I are in similar positions. We are both growing and figuring out our place in Richmond (me especially, being a Baltimore county native. I know where nothing is around here). But as I make my way from college student, to Randolph-Macon graduate, to job-hungry young adult, I’m definitely going to be reflecting on my experience as an intern. The way the team approaches organizational change, leadership, and strategic planning is something that I can take with me anywhere I choose to go.

I won’t say Floricane changed my life (John might laugh at me again), but I will say that I had a fantastic time here in 1E. 

Floricane and the Blue Sky Fund Are a Natural Fit

The founders of Floricane and the Blue Sky Fund met at a Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce event in 2006. Blue Sky’s Lawson Wijesoorija made John’s “business crush” list. 

Floricane has worked with Blue Sky before, but we’re stoked to be helping the nonprofit dream big about its opportunity to expose urban youth to the outdoors. At the center of this process – two back-to-back days with their board and staff to dream big, plan big and anchor everything to actionable plans.