This year, our company was awarded the APA’s Psychologically Healthiest Workplace Award in the Small For-Profit Category. This is arguably the most significant achievement in our organization’s twenty-five year existence.
I will have the honor of representing Tasty Catering as a company and addressing the attendees at the 2014 American Psychological Association Work and Well-Being Conference will be held in Chicago from September 10th to the 12th. The presentation will be an insight into Tasty Catering, a case study of an employee-led organizational change that resulted in Tasty Catering being named the APA’s Psychologically Healthiest Workplace Award in the Small For-Profit Category.
We discovered measuring and acting through employee engagement was a catalyst for that change. The APA lists five measurable areas that are integral to achieving a psychologically healthy workplace (PHW). They include Employee Involvement, Health & Safety, Employee Growth and Development, Work-Life Balance and Employee Recognition. How did Tasty Catering weave those five areas into employee engagement? The presentation will illustrate the steps, feature tribal stories of the change and showcase videos of the wonderful staff we have within our walls.
1. Employee Involvement
This starts with leadership. Leaders demonstrating responsible behavior towards employees and following a stated organizational culture create platforms that lead to self-actualization. Learn four areas of academic focus that Tasty Catering teaches its leaders, delve into how the culture was established and understand how it has led to assumed behavior.
2. Health and Safety
Safety has become a norm in business. The past eight years has witnessed a shift in focus from health insurance to health wellness. Research has proven the effectiveness of physical wellness on performance. This presentation will illustrate some of the key factors in Tasty Catering’s focus on psychological wellness, beginning with the hiring process and carrying through organizational behavior. What commonly overlooked behaviors can result in more positive discretionary thinking being applied to the company? We will discuss that here.
3. Employee Growth and Development
We all have a need to “know” what is going on. But do employees know the truth? A lack of financial transparency and internal communication hinders employee growth and reducing potential for organizational development. This presentation will identify instruments that Tasty Catering has utilized, helping us achieve financial literacy through The Great Game of Business for all employees as well as to implement an impactful system of peer-to-peer internal communications. Other topics of discussion in this area will be TC University for life-long learning, as well as how our systems and processes encourage personal growth and development.
4. Work-Life Balance
Tasty Catering’s four pillars clearly state the importance of work-life balance. The pillars are explained during the pre-hire screening and the onboarding process. They are simplistic but effective, and they complete the triangle of each person’s extrinsic, intrinsic and altruistic purpose of being. How an organizational culture impacts personal behaviors in the work place and at home will also be explained in this section.
5. Employee Recognition
“No one is more important than me.” That is the commonly acceptable mindset or way of thinking. But how do impactful leaders convey the message that everyone is someone, that everyone is important? Tasty Catering has learned that both formal and informal processes are necessary to make this happen. We also know that the emotional connection between a staff member and his or her leader after that reader recognizes and rewards the employee’s personal behavior is just as important. We will discuss all of that and more in this talk.
The educational takeaways that can be gleaned from dissecting and understanding Tasty Catering’s award-winning employee culture and practice of financial transparency is invaluable. Our practices are time-tested, and our employee-led organizational change allowed for all of our success to happen. Learn more about Tasty Catering’s practices and how you can implement them in your own company at the 2014 APA Work and Well-Being Conference.