Googlize Our Department

Last spring one of my team colleagues circulated a viral email from Google. The email highlighted all the comforts and perks that can be yours if you went to work for the mighty Google.

There was a hint of envy in the supplementary message that was shared among the team; a “wouldn’t this be a dream job” innuendo.

Rather than just acknowledge the message and move forward, I took it to a team meeting and asked the question “why can’t working in our program be just as motivating and rewarding?”

We then created the task of Googlizing our workplace.

The first step was thematically organizing the appealing aspects flaunted by Google into the categories of health, work-life balance, environment, and team interaction. Then came some brainstorming which yielded 22 immediate ideas, with implementation challenges ranging from simple to creatively complex.

Over the span of the first few months since the first meeting, we have implemented four of the ideas. One of the coolest is the purchase of “Core strength building Fitness Balls” for everyone on the team. Now each of us is literally bouncing in our seats, working the back and abdominal muscles. Perhaps there’s a calendar opportunity in our future!

We’re celebrating some of the wackiest honorarium days on the calendar. National doughnut and cheese days are behind us. There’s a day coming soon in honour of the Ice Cream cone. Perhaps it’s a good thing we have the fitness balls. The team seems to love the days that celebrate food.

I’m proud of the way our team refused to submit to being victims of our fiscally constrained healthcare environment. They clearly relish the challenge of creating a workplace that invites us to participate everyday. There are many other ideas that are in development to Googlize our department. If I can blend these great workplace ideas with their passion for achieving goals and providing outstanding services and products, then perhaps we’ll be the envy and motivator for another organization in the same way Google motivated us.


As per our blog guidelines - the opinions and comments in this article represent those of the author and should not be considered representative of the ROHCG.