My colleague Sarah joined RedBalloon on April Fools Day in 2004 – she is fast approaching her five year anniversary. With any special occasion it gives us a moment to reflect. I’m sure Sarah could share much better than I about the changes she has experienced at RedBalloon…and the ones she has championed. She was the RedBallooner who coined the name ‘Pleasure Relations’ for instance. One thing that has not changed at RedBalloon is our values and how we celebrate…
I was coming back from holidays in late January – sitting on an aircraft from Hong Kong to Sydney and the flight attendant handed me an A4 envelope. As I opened the package – my son asked me ‘Do you know everyone on the planet?’ – ‘Not quite’ said I. I had been asked to be a panelist for the eXcel ‘Peoples Choice’ awards at Qantas. The package delivered was a dossier of the final citations ie the letters from…
I was recently listening to Susie Babani – Group MD, HR, ANZ speak on Workforce Diversity as a driver of business performance. She has such a rich and diverse background herself after working on most continents. The way that she described the program at ANZ was fascinating. People come together organically to support the community they represent and then present a case to the bank for additional resources to market to that community or provide unique product. Susie ensured that…
This week I was presenting at the Marcus Evans HR Summit on the Gold Coast – and I shared some of what I believe has created an engaged team at RedBalloon. I was very quick to let the audience know that I am not an HR professional, but a marketer passionate about a brand… who knows that people and relationships make a brand. So engagement is an obvious priority for me. I also said that ‘we tried a lot of…
I often have a good giggle with audiences, when I’m presenting, about what it was like working ‘last century’. The funny thing is that in just a decade, many of the practices seem completely archaic.. how did we cope? We had telephones that you would dial, and then wait after each number you dialed for the rotary piece to return to base. The sound was distinctive.. dddd, dddd, dddd (very hard to replicate in writing). No speed dial, voice recognition,…
At RedBalloon we talk about recognition all the time, not only what we do at work, but what we are learning from our clients. Matt the RedBalloon head of corporate has put 52 recognition ideas into a handy little business card size piece. It is really quite fun – filled with great suggestions of how easy it is to make people feel great at work. I’m in Auckland visiting clients today with our Kiwi Manager, Laurel, and I met one…
People sometimes think that being a part of a best place to work means that it is party time all the time. That’s not the case. Sure we work hard and play hard, but really what we do is challenge each other to greatness. We know that to be challenged can also be truly rewarding. It says somewhere in the bible that a ‘good wife’ will debate and challenge her husband so he can see what he cannot see. I…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
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Twist in the RedBalloon tale.
We know at RedBalloon that recruitment is very much a dating game. It is a two way street – it is just as much about potential RedBallooners getting to know us as us getting to know them. RedBalloon might have been named in the top 10 Best places to work by BRW but we know that our work place will only suit some people. We are recruiting many roles – and we publish them on the Amazing Careers page on…