Name: Charlie “The Lover” Tegtmeyer
Age: 10 months
Breed: Vizsla (Natural-born hunters, with hearts of gold)
Owner: Karl Tegtmeyer, BD – Vendor Sales Specialist, Seattle
Charlie’s Position at Softchoice: Charlie is the office ‘nap coordinator’ and an avid ‘attention-seeker’. Everyone loves Charlie, so he expects a lot of attention on a fairly regular basis. Charlie loves to paw people, demanding that they come over to visit and spend some quality time with him.
[Softchoice’s Jen Wood raised $1,425.00 to help homeless youth dodge a lifetime of poverty through a fun game of classic schoolyard dodgeball!]
Back in April, the Softchoice Cares Board gave ‘Power 2 the People’ by encouraging employees to nominate a local charity that has impacted their lives. The Softchoice Cares Board allocated a pool of $25,000 to match every dollar raised from events held by contestants or employees who wanted to support their cause. The board also announced that the host who raised the most money and created the most engagement would receive an additional $15,000 for their chosen charity, with second place receiving $7,500 and third $2,500.
Jen Wood, a Human Resources Analyst at Softchoice in Toronto, became involved with Youth Without Shelter last year and she was introduced by a friend who was volunteering with the shelter at the time. He showed her an emotionally-charged video that featured a young man who lost everything and fell victim to a life fueled by addiction. Youth Without Shelter (YWS), a homeless shelter in Etobicoke, offered him free shelter and access to professional development workshops, tools and counselling support to help him get back on his feet. [Read more...]
Kermit the frog is known for one particularly famous line: ”It ain’t easy being green”.
This may be the case for Kermit but when it comes to being environmentally ‘green’ - it really can be easy.
As a Seneca Green Intern over the past few months, part of my placement was to support Softchoice with sustainability-related initiatives. During this time, I attended a few of the company’s Lunch ‘n’ Learns and noticed that Softchoice offers tasty meals for employees to enjoy when they learn about the latest and greatest in the IT world. Unfortunately, like many catered meetings, they tend to produce large amounts of waste – plates, cutlerly, containers and leftover food. [Read more...]
Many companies give back to their communities using the same approach: decisions are generally made by one team or department managing the company’s overall philanthropic activities. Very few involve employees in deciding where their efforts should be focused or even encourage them to get involved. According to an Imagine Canada survey, in 2009 only 18% of corporations encouraged employees to raise money and only 9% made matching grants for employee contributions.
Softchoice’s employees raise a ton of money each year, and the Softchoice Cares Board directs funds to different charities and technology-related causes. But with a company full of employees who are passionate about a wide range of causes, the board saw an opportunity to give them the chance to have a bigger say in where the funds should go. That was the ignition point for Softchoice’s new Power 2 the People campaign! [Read more...]
Name/Nickname: Shiloh Marie Eatherton
Age & Breed: 6 years old, female, lab/husky mix
Position: Seattle Office Custodian (Vacuuming/inhaling a few loose snacks here and there…that’s my specialty!)
Owner: Michelle Eatherton, Vendor Marketing Manager
Pet Peeves: Dogs that act like dogs. Have some class. [Read more...]
Traditions are a valuable way to strengthen families and create lasting memories. Often passed on through generations, many rituals can be quite unique; yet also bridge divides and boost the spirit of a family unit. When it comes to the larger corporate family, traditions are also a fantastic way to drive engagement and strengthen coworker relationships. In fact, Human Resources expert Susan Heathfield agrees saying they’re as “important in companies just as they are in families” and a great way to increase employee morale and motivation.
I quickly realized this when I arrived as a newbie intern at Softchoice’s company-wide, employee conference. Every January this standing experience called Launch, kick starts the year ahead for Softchoice’s employees. What started out as a small gathering of a few employees when the company was founded in 1990, has grown to a 1200-person, weeklong event that has continued even during tough economic times.
Being new to Softchoice, I went on a mission to find out…why has the Launch tradition become so entrenched in the company’s culture? [Read more...]
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