B6
Thursday, November 6, 2014
BUSINESS
calgaryherald.com
CAPITAL IDEAS CAPITAL QUESTION:
UPCOMING: NOV
How have you made your company 13 culture attractive? Capital Ideas members share tips for building a desirable workplace
Arleigh Vasconcellos, principal at The Agency (theagencyinc.ca), says that when it comes to her business, she likes to lead by example. “I strive to be professional, creative and most importantly, to provide value to our clients. I work hard and expect my team to do the same, which they do. At the same time, I do not believe in leading with an iron fist, and I absolutely do not tolerate bullying or intimidation. Instead, I aim to ensure that the work environment at The Agency is professional, committed but still fun — a place where people are happy to come to work each day and give their best effort.” Photo supplied by: Arleigh Vasconcellos
“Here’s a quote from Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg: ‘We have a tradition at Facebook, where every Friday we have a Q&A and all employees can come and ask me questions about anything they want. It’s an important part of Facebook’s culture. People ask thoughtful questions about why our company is going in certain directions, what I think about things happening in the world, and how we can continue improving our services for everyone. I learn a lot from these Q&As, and the questions people ask help us build better services.’ ” — Shawn Alain, president of Viral In Nature — viralinnature.com “We’re a tech startup, but we’re also a health company that’s founded by doctors, and we focus on keeping that greater mission at the core of our culture. When you come to see us, it’s in a clinical setting and we follow our founder’s vision of treating everyone we do business with with the compassion, respect and confidentiality that you’d expect from a great caregiver. We focus on keeping our personal and professional lives balanced, and place a premium on encouraging an active lifestyle among our team members. We put people first, and we do this consistently. I love our culture.” — Scott Valentine, president of Vivametrica — vivametrica.com
“By enabling our development team to interact with the end users to better understand their needs, and by creating an environment where creativity is encouraged, we make sure that everyone on the team is able to leverage their expertise and knowledge to generate solutions to problems.” — Hisham Badawi, founder of Oral4D Systems Ltd. — ortho-4d.com “A business can easily turn into a stagnant place if innovation and creative thinking aren’t open to the whole team. We recognize different key personality types and actively encourage the team to understand one another … [There can be] no judgment or anger. If a mistake happens, we absorb it together. The person who made the error feels bad enough; they don’t need management or the team ripping on them. Plus you earn a lot of respect from your team when they realize you aren’t interested in disciplining them, but in moving forward. We hold ourselves to a high standard, but we never let our ego get in the way of making the right call for ourselves, for the business, or for our clients. Intelligence and a clear head can solve most problems. You just have to slow down, see that problem for what it really is, and then tackle it.” — Michael Tighe, president of Solid Site — asolidsite.com
Having an A*HA moment ATB Financial invited four eye-opening speakers — former prime minister Kim Campbell, CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, futurist Linus Bille and business strategist Rahaf Harfoush — to address business owners, professionals and leaders at the second annual A*HA conference at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre on Nov. 3. Here is a selection of tweets, edited for clarity, from some of those who assembled to be inspired: “#atbaha conference, @canadiancommish: Know what your brand stands for. Engage your customers in discussion. Have passion.” — Calgary Chamber (@CalgaryChamber)
“Follow your passion and people follow you. Know when to exit & let another lead. Mark Cohon’s story as CFL commish is an inspiration.” — Karen Joy (@KarenJoySB)
“The world we knew is gone... it’s time to create the future! … We have the opportunity to innovate!” — It’s Date Night! (@DateNightYYC)
“Companies need to become a centre of gravity for for talent.” — Paula BlackmoreWhite (@PaulaXBW), team manager at Fiasco Gelato
“The passion in @canadiancommish’s voice when he speaks about the authenticity of the @CFL is contagious.” — Brock Melnyk (@BrockMelnyk), senior investment adviser at ATB
“At #atbaha listening to former PM @AKimCampbell talk about the advancement of women. This is what I call #listeningintently.” — Emily Expo (@AskEmilyExpo), expo hostess
“@rahafharfoush (says) ‘you can’t commoditize talent.’ Tell me about it!” — Scott Dejong (@YYCRecruiter), president at Agile Energy Services
“Diversity in an organization lifts performance. Brilliant! @AKimCampbell” — Robyn Young (@CanehdianGurl), insurance broker and registry agent
“@LinusBille comments that the human brain is a great tool for storing data. It’s just not very accurate! How true.” — Jim Bladon (@JSBlades), director of business development at ATB Business & Agriculture
“What an inspiring afternoon… love what you are doing (@ATBBusiness) to think outside the box!” — Tracey Scarlett (@traceyscarlett), CEO of Alberta Women Entrepreneurs
Startup Calgary 5th Annual Launch Party A celebration of Calgary’s hottest startups, with special guests Ray Muzyka of BioWare and Rahul Sood of Microsoft Ventures When: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Where: Mount Royal University, Ross Glen Hall (4825 Mount Royal Gate SW) Admission: From $25. Details at startupcalgarylaunchparty.com
NOV
2015 Economic Outlook
NOV
BizConnect
NOV
Shop the Neighbourhood
13
18
29
An annual luncheon featuring global, national, regional and local economic forecasts from Todd Hirsch and Glen Hodgson When: 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Where: Calgary TELUS Convention Centre (120 9th Ave. SE) Admission: From $90. Details at calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com
Meet, mingle and network with fellow entrepreneurs and professionals at this monthly event hosted by The Business Link When: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Momentum (16-2936 Radcliffe Dr. SE) Admission: Free. Details at meetup.com/The-Business-Link-Calgary
A national initiative of Yellow Pages which supports small businesses and reminds Canadians how local shopping makes a difference Where: shoptheneighbourhood.ca Admission: Free. Small businesses may register before Nov. 21 at registershoptheneighbourhood.yp.ca
Have an event that Capital Ideas should know about? Contact us at hello@capitalideascalgary.com.
These answers are in response to a question posed by Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business. Here’s his take: “Culture is everything, and you can see how true that is by looking at the most successful companies in the world. What sets them apart? Usually it is culture. It is the feeling their customers get when dealing with those businesses. It is the emotion that team members feel about working for their company. What I have seen from those that have built the most successful businesses is that they often made culture a key part of their strategy. They would deliberately state the culture they wanted, and would tell stories of how certain behaviours made that culture come to life. They would do this in a way their employees understood and that would inspire them to do their best work. Of course, another factor is hiring employees that fit that culture, but that is a conversation for another Capital Ideas question.”
COMMUNITY QUESTION:
What business skills do you wish you had learned in your youth? We all have things we wish we had focused on earlier in life to put us farther ahead today, and sometimes sharing those reflections can be of great service to others just starting their entrepreneurial journeys. That’s why Scott Hillier, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta (southern-alberta.jacan.org), is asking you to share: What business skills do you wish you had learned in your youth? You can answer the question in two ways: · Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member, or · Visit capitalideascalgary.com. We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on Nov. 13.
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