workplace culture
Employees of Habanero Consulting Group
enjoy a high level of camaraderie, one of the
core reasons why the company has been
awarded #1 Best Workplace in Canada in
the medium-sized company category by the
Great Place to Work Institute
Connecting People
When a Habanero Consulting Group employee returned
to her Calgary home days after floodwaters
ravaged the city in June 2013, she found many of
her belongings underwater. Wading through the
main floor, she surveyed the damage and wondered how to even
begin to salvage what was left.
Originally from the UK, she didn’t have family nearby to help
source what was needed to dry out her home and sort through waterlogged
possessions.
Fortunately, another kind of family swept in to help. For over
a week, her colleagues from Habanero showed up with supplies,
food, expertise and a donated generator that powered fans and a
sump pump.
“The Habanero family showed up and spent a week digging
sludge out of a basement, doing construction work, brewing tea
– whatever it took to get their colleague back on her feet,” said
Habanero president, Steven Fitzgerald.
According to Jen Wetherow, senior national director of Great
Place to Work Institute Canada, the connection Habanero colleagues
share is one of the reasons why the company has been
named the #1 Best Workplace in Canada in the medium-sized
company category by the Great Place to Work Institute.
“When we look at winning organizations, we see great diversity
in terms of sector, industry, size and location… But in each of
them, employees trust the people they work for, take pride in what
they do and enjoy the people they work with,” said Wetherow.
“It’s about these three basic relationships and the last one
embodies camaraderie.”
Fitzgerald says camaraderie is built into the DNA of
his company.
“I believe there is huge strategic potential in the idea of camaraderie,”
he said. “It’s a bit of a sleeping giant in our organizations – a
living, breathing element that can have a huge impact if nourished
and brought to life in the right ways.”
With three offices in three time zones – Vancouver, Calgary
and Toronto – Habanero’s leaders need to be strategic about camaraderie.
Putting together teams that work well together, using
technology like an internal enterprise social network to connect
employees and hosting a lunch for employees every Friday are just
some of the ways they nurture the connection employees feel to
each other and to the company.
“When you structure your organization well, it helps build relationships
and helps it function as one,” said Fitzgerald. “Because
we’re connected, we get to use the collective brain of our entire
to Purpose
CAMARADERIE AND ITS ROLE IN THE WORKPLACE
By Heather Hudson
Photos courtesy of Habanero Consulting Group
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MAY/JUNE 2016 ❚ 47