“…life is not fair, but unending in its capacity to change us; …compassion is fair and feeling is just;…we are not responsible for all that befalls us, only for how we receive it and for how we hold each other up along the way.” Mark Nepo
KOILPILLAI, Robinson Aged 92, of Edmonton, Alberta passed away peacefully at Saint Vincent’s Nursing Home, Halifax on April 27, 2016.
Born in Prakasapuram, India, Robinson’s first introduction to North America was in 1954 when he studied in the US under a Fulbright Scholarship. He came to his beloved Canada in 1960 and, with his wife Helen and their three children, made a home first in Athabasca, Alberta and then in Edmonton. As a stalwart in education he had an exemplary career, which took him from being a teacher to vice- principal, and then finally to the position of principal with the Edmonton school board. But teaching was not his only passion. Robinson will always be remembered for his commitment to community, multiculturalism and human rights. He held positions as a member of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and chairman of numerous organizations including the Edmonton Taxi Cab Commission, Edmonton Race Relations Council, Alberta Heritage Council, Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation and the National Association of Canadians of Origin in India. He used his fundraising skills to provide funding for the Anantha Ashram Orphanage and Clinic in India, for a women’s shelter in Nepal and a fund for children in South Africa. For these and other efforts he received numerous awards culminating with the Order of Canada in 1996.
He was a great believer in the importance of family. He and Helen endured the untimely death of their children Michael and Susan in 1989 and 2001 respectively. They hosted grand get-togethers of extended family and eagerly attended other family gatherings.
Robinson will be missed and fondly remembered by Helen, son Chris, daughter- in-law Anuradha, granddaughters Priya, Renuka and Kiran, Fayanne Perry, mother of Kiran, all members of his extended family and many dear friends.
Forbes recently published the Glassdoor 2014 Best Companies to Work For – one of the intriguing lists that gets the full attention of engagement and communication pros like me. We want to know how to get our clients on those lists, yes – but also we want to find the secret to creating happy employees, and being happy ourselves! We’re not alone – ‘best company’ lists and articles usually get a lot of traffic. Everyone wants to know if there are better jobs or better companies out there.
In the spirit of improving the companies where we already are, I borrow from Erika Andersen. In a recent blog, she quotes Samantha Zupan, a spokesperson for Glassdoor, who says:
Andersen agrees with us when she says these four elements come up time and time again her engagement-related work. She says, “People want to build and work for companies that 1) have a strong positive culture, firmly grounded in a meaningful purpose, 2) offer real chances to grow professionally, 3) provide the opportunity to work with people they like and respect, and 4) offer work that requires them to stretch their brains and skills.”
Here is more explanation of each of these, adapted from Andersen:
A strong positive culture, firmly grounded in a meaningful purpose. ’Culture’ has, too often, come to mean ‘perks.’ But while a ping-pong table in the break room and coupons for burgers are fun – they’re not the core of a great culture. What people are looking for is an environment that supports and rewards excellence, honesty, mutual support, and fair dealing; where people get great results and they’re treated well….and neither is optional. Truly strong cultures are supported from the C-suite on down: the employees report that their boss – and their boss’ boss, and so on – live by the espoused values. People also want to feel that their strong culture exists to support meaningful work.
Real chances to grow professionally. Although great companies focus on providing substantive growth opportunities for their employees, this doesn’t necessarily mean ‘career pathing’ in the traditional sense. Good managers in excellent companies look for ways to match employees’ skills and passions with the organization’s needs. They do this through good old-fashioned observation and conversation. They observe what needs to get done at the company that’s not getting done, or not getting done well. They talk with other managers and leaders to find out about new initiatives or projects that might need people. They observe what the employee is good at doing. They converse with the employee to find out what he or she is interested in learning or doing, and how he or she would like to see his or her career unfold.
The opportunity to work with people you like and respect.This one has both a universal and a personal aspect. The universal: excellent companies generally have a firm “no a**hole” rule. They don’t hire people who are dishonest, narcissistic, abusive, prejudiced, lazy, etc. Beyond that, “people you like and respect” is more individual. For instance, some companies tend to hire fun-loving, informal, uninhibited people. Other companies hire more serious, reserved, intellectual people.
Work that requires you to stretch your brain and skills. Human beings are wired to overcome challenges; it’s a deep survival mechanism that has allowed us to successfully adapt to new environments again and again over the millenia. So it makes sense that we want this in our jobs, too: we like to figure things out, to get good at things, to crack codes and solve problems and make breakthroughs. Great companies don’t assume that people are slackers who just want to do the least possible to get by: they recognize and call upon this built-in human attraction to challenging work.
It seems simple when you lay it out like this: a great company is a place you can do great things while having a great time, with others who want the same. But it’s not easy to create this simple, powerful thing – it requires real focus and consistent effort on the part of the company’s leadership to build the needed structures, processes and systems; to hire the right people with the right attitudes and the rights skills; and to inspire and hold people accountable every day to the high standards you’ve set.
But that investment pays off tremendously: you end up with a company that attracts the best talent, creates excellent products and services, and figures out how to do it better, faster, and smarter than the rest.
Luminaries of the communication world gathered in New York last week to honor the best among us at the PRWeek Annual Awards dinner.
Congratulations to all the winners – I know from several years of judging the awards that it takes time and care to put together a winning award submission, not to mention the tremendous creativity and energy to produce award-worthy work!
A special shout-out to my friend Elise Mitchell, CEO of Mitchell Communications, who captured the Agency Pro of the Year award, part of a huge year for her (and we’re only in the third month!)
Congratulations, too, to my friends Steve Barrett, Gideon Fidelzeid, and everyone else at PRWeek for putting together a fantastic event, and for continuing to hold the standard high for our profession.
KOILPILLAI, Robinson
Jaya Koilpillai Bohlmann
designingcommunication 