Workplace 2.0 made The Globe and Mail today!!

Workplace 2.0 made The Globe and Mail today. How great does our boss look working from his home office??

Collecting and responding to feedback

Every week we send out a survey to our pilot members. It's short and sweet so it doesn't take up too much of their time, but it provides us with really valuable feedback.

After a full month of receiving fantastic comments from our participants (both positive and negative), we decided to let them know how their responses are effecting Workplace 2.0. Last week we sent out a newsletter that listed just a few of the changes we have made to the project. These changes include policy, furniture and technology, and were all made because our pilot members told us that's what they needed. the feedback from the newsletter alone was really positive, so we are going to continue with it on a bi-weekly basis.

Here are a few of the really positive comments we have received. They really hit home the reason this project is so important:

"This week my daughter was ill on the usual day that I go into the office. Having the ability to work from home I was able to communicate to my team the change in my schedule to work from home, provide the care my daughter needed from home and get my job done from home! I love ATBIS and Workplace 2.0."

"On one of the days that I should have worked at the office, the weather was bad and the highway was very slippery so I stayed home that day since I had my laptop and did my work. I contacted the office and got someone to open the envelopes that were for me and got them to scan the docs to me so I could work from the scanned docs. It worked out really good."

When I grow up...

My teammate Leeann Jarman stumbled upon this great video by Kevin Jones - she was kind enough to share it with me so I could share it with all of you!  It really captures why Workplace 2.0 is so on the money!

Check out the actual article where he has transcripted the words, including my favorite:

I want to make things up for my year end review.

Fight traffic to do work I could have done at home.
Be forced to attend worthless meetings.
Write reports that no one will read.

What do you want to be when you grow up? And really... don't you want to come and work for ATB now?

tata

Sherri

What am I missing when I work from home?

Yesterday marked my first day back to work in the new year!  It was a normal work from home day for me, I set myself up with my favorite cup of tea and iTunes playing in the background and dug into budgets.

As my day progressed and no one called or video chatted me, I started to wonder how everyone elses holidays had been, how their kids liked the presents from Santa and if they all had fun at New Years Eve...

In the past we would have all sat around with our coffee's and shared stories and got caught up on each others news and would have all felt connected.  I sure wasnt feeling connected. 

So I OCS'd one of my team members and she took me (via computer) around to say hi to the other team members who were in the office yesterday, we did a quick 5 minute catch-up and I felt so much better.

I then went back to my head-down work and was SO productive.  When I started to think about it, I asked myself "What did I not do today that I would normally have done if I had been in the office?"

1. I didn't run out to grab a coffee from Tim's!  Hmmm that saved me money and productivity time.
2. I didn't spend an hour catching up with different collegues in the office. Hmmm that saved me MORE productivity time.
3. I didn't run out to buy myself something for lunch... Hmmm more money and time savings!
4. I didn't sit in traffic or fight for parking... Saved me some sanity!
5. I didn't run to my favorite shoe store.... you get the picture.

So I know I missed the social catch-up part, but that was easily accomplished in a very short period of time. And the other things, really if you look at what I gained versus what I 'lost', I think I am ahead of the game.

Just more food for thought.

ta ta

Sher

First out of country test a success!

I am so lucky to have a team that is willing to try just about anything. If we say we can work anytime anywhere, we want to put our money where our mouth is!

I have two leaders on my team that had holidays planned, one to Pheonix for 2 weeks and one to Mexico for 2 weeks. Each thought it would be great to add a week of work before and after their vacation time from their international locations.

Why would we want to test this? There are many reasons. Will our technology work outside Calgary or Canada? Will they still be productive in tropical locations? Each of them leads a team of people, so how would their team's react to their leader being even more remote? Would it be any more difficult to lead a team, coach a team, or even just have team meetings?

We have now successfully tested Pheonix! Everything worked! The technology didn't fail, Jenn's productivity (which is normally off the chart) became even better, if that is possible. The team still had their meetings, Jenn still provided coaching and development moments virtually, and I as her leader had absolutely no issues. Projects were completed on time, if not early, we were always able to connect when we needed to, and our coaching relationship worked fine from afar as well.

Our next guinea pig leaves for Mexico in early February, so I will keep you posted on that situation! If our tests continue to be successful, think of the possibilities for my team!! We could have world leaders in area's of expertise that we need from around the world work for us, but never leave their home country... our talent pool might just have become the entire world!

Ta ta

Sher

Sherri Wright-Schwietz Recognized by Cambridge Who's Who for Excellence in Recruitment

Sherri was recently recognized by a premier publisher for executives and professionals, lead by Donald Trump Jr. It is an elite networking resource limited to individuals who have demonstrated leadership and achievement in their industry and occupation. Congratulations Sherri!!

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CALGARY, AB, CANADA, December 14, 2011 /Cambridge Who's Who/ -- Sherri Wright-Schwietz, CHRP, Head of Talent and Story for ATB Investor Services, a subsidiary of ATB Financial, has been recognized by Cambridge Who's Who for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in her approach to recruitment. As the Head of Talent and Story for ATB Investor Services, Sherri develops innovative human resources and communications strategies to support a rapidly growing wealth management firm.

She is a strong leader and perpetual team player, providing associates with extraordinary training and coaching, as well as industry-leading programs and tools. She is focused on developing rewards that matter to individuals, and creating opportunities and experiences that will help each associate grow within his or her career with ATB. Throughout her tenure at ATB Investor Services, Sherri has received several international awards for her innovative orientation package and industry-leading recruitment process, having most importantly been honored with the HR Summit Award in 2009 and again in 2010. Sherri hopes to be seen as a world leader in the talent recruitment field, and her goal is to add value to all areas of ATB Investor Services. "My mission is to change the way we view the company-associate relationship. I would like to help HR professionals see the business value we can add when we look at our roles with different lenses."

Sherri has worked hard to create an employee-centric, engaged corporate culture within ATB Investor Services. She is currently implementing a customized flexible workplace initiative to the organization, and is documenting the experience on her blog. This culture change is radical for the investment community, but is intended to transform the way work is done - measuring results instead of time.

Sherri received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Calgary in 1996. Her educational background drives her love of the profession; working with people and discovering the things that motivate them. She is a Certified Human Resource Professional, having earned the distinction from the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations, and enjoys mentoring others in the profession as a member of Human Resources Institute of Alberta, the Association of Professional Recruiters of Canada and the Society for Human Resource Management.

For more information about ATB Investor Services, visit http://invest.atb.com/

About Cambridge Who's Who
With over 400,000 members representing every major industry, Cambridge Who's Who is a powerful networking resource that enables professionals to outshine their competition, in part through effective branding and marketing. Cambridge Who's Who employs similar public relations techniques to those utilized by Fortune 500 companies and makes them cost-effective for members who seek to take advantage of its career enhancement and business advancement services. Cambridge is pleased to welcome its new Executive Director of Global Branding and Networking, Donald Trump Jr., who is eager to share his extensive experience in this arena with members.

Cambridge Who's Who membership provides individuals with a valuable third party endorsement of their accomplishments and gives them the tools needed to brand themselves and their businesses effectively. In addition to publishing biographies in print and electronic form, it offers an online networking platform where members can establish new professional relationships.

For more information, please visit http://www.cambridgeregistry.com/.

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Survey says...

In November 2011, we administered a survey to the Workplace 2.0 pilot members before they started actively participating in the program. The pilot members provided very valuable information on their current work environment. After the pilot period is complete, these same participants will be asked to complete a post-pilot survey that will be used to measure, improve, and scale the program across the company. A total of 34 ATB associates and managers were asked to participate, and with a 100% response rate, here are a few interesting findings:

• Nearly all ATB respondents (85%) report working from home some of the time already. Of those that do currently work from home, the average is 18 hours a week. The majority of that time is during normal business hours.
• The average amount of time respondents take to commute one-way is 31.5 minutes, which equates to 263 hours and approximately $3,318 in a year.
• The majority (between 88 and 97%) of respondents feel they are able to easily keep in touch with contacts, maintain relationships, collaborate with colleagues, and receive timely assisstance when they need it.
• In response to the statement "My company's senior leadership team is supportive of remote work arrangements" 65% of pilot members Strongly Agreed, 29% Agreed and 6% were Neutral. That means none of our participants feel as though our executive team are unsupportive of them working remotely.
• Current companyy satisfaction is very high. Our goal with this program would be to maintain or improve these results: