WE rub shoulders with each other every day, spending most of the waking hours of our lives with you — our co-workers. Sure, we argue about mysteriously missing staplers and sneaky colleagues who will quickly throw you under the boss’s bus without batting an eye-lid, but when push comes to shove you are all we have at the end of the work day. Think about it, who do you miss most when you move on to work with another company — the slave-driving boss or the considerate colleague who listened to your daily tales from the crypt?

Much is written and spoken about employee communication from the point of view of management’s action because, without a doubt, successful businesses thrive when employees are fully engaged in the company’s operations. Engaged employees can be an organisation’s competitive edge. These employees connect the dots between what they do on a daily basis and how it affects ABC Ltd’s fortunes and they are highly involved and committed to their jobs. They get why they come to work and do what it is that they do. Apart from the almighty paycheque, one of the factors that keep employees ‘into’ their company is consistently open channels of communication. Factual information being shared on a timely basis to all employees and not on a need to know basis where it is subject to being twisted according to the whim and fancy of the person sharing the information.

But what about the obligations of one employee to the next? As employees, how much do we really care about each other? Apart from birthdays and special occasions when we pass the hat to raise a gift or card, how much kindness do we show to the person in the next cubicle? Aside from the Beelzebub types, you know, Satan’s minions who seem to get dressed and come to work every day specifically to make your work life a living hell, do you really care about your co-worker? While you are not being asked to take a bullet for Phillip in operations, do you give a hoot if he never ever shows up to work tomorrow?

Tales of co-worker ‘malice’ abound like so much urban legend. When was the last time you encouraged another colleague to call a truce in her months-long malice with Andrea in Accounts? I once lived in the dark for several months before I realised I was on the receiving end of a malice-keeping co-worker. On the other hand, I have established lifelong friendships from my work relationship with colleagues in the next cubicle and in the next department. We all know that the quality of the relationships that you have with your workplace colleagues can sometimes make you or break you. For example, it is that special kinship that you have with your ‘spar’ in the IT department that makes the difference in the quality of assistance you get when your computer goes on the blink. Others may need it fill out that request form and wait for a few days but you would have a little edge on your side. Sometimes it is not always the persons in ‘high places’ who can help you, it is oft-times that kindly secretary with access to the boss who can put in a good word for you and arrange that sales meeting.

There are companies which go out of their way to ensure that a caring climate is fostered for their employees. They establish employee initiatives that encourage employee communication and sharing, an environment where co-workers do not only rely on the company’s beneficence. For example, the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) has set up a Staff Welfare Programme which is administered by a Staff Welfare Committee. General manager, Marlene Street Forrest, the objectives are, “to provide support to the members of the JSE Group in times of financial difficulty, including prolonged sickness and that which is not covered by the company’s Group Health Insurance and other company programmes; death in the immediate family as well as other emergency issues such as fire, flood and other catastrophic emergency”. She pointed out that the initiative is governed by Staff Welfare Policy which are all developed and approved by staff members. What is key to the continuance of this programme is that the proceeds to the fund are generated from monthly salary deductions and fund-raisers such as raffles, Ice Cream & Cake Sale Day, Auctions and other planned activity.

Red Stripe is another company which encourages employee caring with its employee outreach programme, the aptly named REACH — Red Stripe Employees Advocates of Care and Hope. Through REACH, the company encourages employees to volunteer time and effort for community development and they have made their mark far and wide as well as in the communities surrounding the plant. Recently REACH refurbished the Elite Basic School on Black Sea Drive in Seaview Gardens and the Richard’s Pen Basic School in St Mary, the latter initiative valued at about J$540,000 which brought that school in line with the requirements of the Early Childhood Education Board. The Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) project allows REACH volunteers to read for 15 minutes from books for children from 6-15 years old who are enrolled in the Coburn Garden Primary and Junior High School at Three Miles, just five minutes away from the Red Stripe Brewery. At another level, moved by the plight of Haitians following the catastrophic earthquake in January 2010, Red Stripe employees opted to forgo their team fun day and instead donated several million dollars to recovery efforts — the result of an overwhelming employee vote.

I know there are many companies which ensure that employee engagement programmes such as these are deeply embedded in their corporate cultures. Is your company one of them?

Yvonne Grinam-Nicholson, (MBA, ABC) is a Business Communications Consultant with ROCommunications Jamaica, specialising in business communications and financial publications. She can be contacted at: yvonne@rocommunications.com. Visit her website at www.rocommunications.com and post your comments.