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STAFF members at some of Bahrain’s top stores have got good reason to smile at customers … as they’ve joined an initiative to become the region’s happiest workplace.
Founded in 1973 in Bahrain, Al Rashid Group, a division of Landmark Group, operates more than 90 outlets across the island including Centrepoint, Homecentre, Max, Splash and Mothercare.
The parent retail and hospitality company recently unveiled a first-of-its-kind ‘Happiness Movement’ impacting around 40,000 employees across all GCC countries. Nisha Jagtiani, executive director and ‘chief happiness officer’ said: “We are thrilled at the response we have received from our employees. Happiness is a journey and we are just getting started.”
The Landmark Happiness Movement aims to reinforce values such as passion, speed and simplicity, innovation, ownership and entrepreneurship, that form the core foundation of the group’s philosophy of ‘creating exceptional value’.
The campaign has a memorable visual identity and an inspiring anthem, which have been welcomed by employees across the Group’s warehouses, stores and offices. It reflects the Group’s culture of openness, agility and adaptability, which has been integral to its success in the region.
The Happiness Movement was rolled-out to comp any employees known as ‘Landmarkers’, through a recent three-day power-packed celebration across the group’s retail outlets, warehouses and offices, simultaneously engaging all 40,000 employees, irrespective of the country where they are based or the tasks that they perform.
Leaders from Landmark Group, also made it a point to visit and interact with as many employees from across the group’s diverse network of retail and hospitality outlets, making it, they believe, one of the largest simultaneously coordinated employee engagement initiatives ever staged in the region.
Envisioned to significantly enhance work-life balance, the employee-led movement witnessed the roll-out of several initiatives to connect employees, increase overall engagement and drive focus towards employee health and wellness. Driven by a Happiness team at its core, the movement has identified ambassadors across its business to drive the initiatives being rolled-out.
The group has also introduced Workplace by Facebook to all Landmark employees across the organisition, to provide Landmarkers with ‘one common platform to voice their opinions, engage with their leaders and colleagues, and belong to one large happy community’. The internal employee community has since been abuzz with thousands of photos submitted.
Landmark Group was the exclusive retail partner for the Global Happiness Dialogue at this year’s World Government Summit (2017). The discussions at the summit’s first Happiness Dialogue Day cemented the group’s intention to create a region-wide Happiness Movement.
