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CONTRIBUTORS

Anne Schourup-Kristensen

Designer

Nikolaj Stagis

CEO

Nikolaj Stagis

CEO

05.03.11

I first met Nicholas Ind at a reputation conference in Oslo about four years ago. I had just started working on my book on authenticity after finishing a master thesis at Copenhagen Business School and he had already written a handful of successful books on branding. One of them called Living the Brand - an idea that I've been intrigued by. He was kind enough to encourage me further and and support the idea of writing an international version once the Danish book is out. That is yet to happen but I'll start working on the new edition soon...

Nicholas is one of those rare people who not only has long experience from practice (like Icon Medialab) but also holds an MBA and recently did a PhD in philosophy. He captures both the everyday challenges and the managerial and philosophical level of branding, leadership and now - the meaning at work.

We spend much of our waking time working, but sadly, most people are disappointed with what they do. In "Meaning at Work" Nicholas Ind asks why we get bored and frustrated with our jobs and then suggests the attitudes and behaviour we should adopt to find fulfillment. I am especially pleased about the book as Nicholas has written a small passage about our work with the bus drivers in Copenhagen and how they find meaning at work:

"Nicolaj Stagis, CEO of a communications company in Denmark, describes a project to boost the self-esteem of bus drivers in Copenhagen. Rather than following the deliberate suppression of emotion described by Hochschild, in this instance bus drivers were encouraged as part of a programme to express their personality and to take responsibility for providing the service they thought fit for their customers. The result is a feeling of closeness - as one of the drivers commented: "When I spend a third of my life at work driving the bus, wouldn't it be strange if I didn't commit myself to the job?" (page 49).

The picture in the book shows bus driver Lars Lylloff who was very active in promoting the job and has since become a team manager in the bus industry.

The book can be ordered on publisher Cappelen Damm.

14.02.11

Valentines roses
(From left: Karen, Niels, Peter, Lone, Mette and Marc)

We just ended a great Valentines Day. During the day some 300 bus drivers in Copenhagen have given roses to their passengers as part of Chauffører med karaktér (Bus drivers with character), our ongoing project to help the bus industry to increase their brand value and attract more customers as they strengthen leadership and pride in the work. The bus drivers are giving their customers 'good moments' (gode øjeblikke) and receiving comments from the passengers on the website www.buschauffor.dk. But I thought we needed a good moment at the office as well, so a bunch of us leaving the Stagis office today got roses to bring home as well. Happy Valentines!

02.05.10

90 percent of the bus drivers in Greater Copenhagen declare that "I thrive at my work place" ("Jeg trives godt på arbejdspladsen") in a recent questionnaire given to 200 bus drivers and managers in the bus industry. The questionnaire was handed out as one of three types of knowledge collected after the first test-run of the "Bus drivers with character" in 2009. Before the project started in April 2009 only 68 percent of the employees in the bus industry agreed with the same statement.

One of the main problems in the bus industry - as well as other industries - is the lack of self confidence and feeling of having a bad image in the eyes of others. But the perception of bad image is changing for the better, too. When we started the project, only 13 percent said "Bus drivers have a good image". By the end of the year, that number had risen to 24 percent.

There is still a long way to go for this industry. Just like a lot of other companies the businesses running the busses are in a continuous process of improving the way they create self-perceptions, build organizational trust and improve the confidence in the profession and the company. Last year's project was not a million-dollar venture but specific experiments, training middle managers, fireballs (bus drivers) and creating small campaigns in the busses involving the passengers as well as creating awareness and a positive image in the media. Let me illustrate how the Danish press was covering the busses and bus drivers in 2008 versus 2009:

Before the project started the dominating image of the bus drivers and the bus industry (and hence the idea of using the product - getting on the bus) was negative. There were more negative stories than positive. Analyzing the same period one year later, the image has turned. Now there are more positive than negative stories in the press. And the fact of the good stories in the media is part of the explanation as to why the employees feel different about their jobs.

A few days ago the Danish daily Berlingske covered the results of the project. Read the story here. (Danish only)