Passion is an invigorating, propulsive emotion. Passions inform identity and self-perception, strengthen bonds, deepen knowledge and skills, and influence perspectives and decisions.
But personal passions rarely appear in the workplace — a clear line is drawn between off-the-clock hobbies and work activities.
According to The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, Motivation, and Self-Determination Theory, people engage in nonwork-related passions for 8.5 hours per week, while they engage in work an average of 35 hours per week.
Additionally, research compiled in the book also shows that passion for nonwork activities positively impacts psychological well-being and protects against anxiety and depression.
So, what happens when people are not only permitted but encouraged to bring their passions to work?
“An environment that allows team members to comfortably and candidly express their whole selves leads to genuine relationships that in turn lead to better morale and higher productivity,” said Flexe’s Senior Director of Solutions Roland Sargeant.
At Flexe and ServiceNow, team members are building connections and making an impact by sharing personal passions in professional environments to positive — and even unexpected — results.
ServiceNow is a cloud-based platform that delivers digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity for employees and the enterprise.
How does your company encourage team members to bring, or engage with, their passions at work?
At ServiceNow, employees are encouraged to bring their passions to work through a number of initiatives. We have nine Employee Belonging Groups, which are employee-led groups that focus on a variety of interests, such as diversity and inclusion, environmentalism, family planning and volunteering. These belonging groups provide opportunities for employees to connect with others who share their passions, learn new skills and give back to their communities.
ServiceNow offers a variety of learning and development resources, including tuition reimbursement, an AI-based learning experience platform and leadership training resources.
These opportunities help employees develop their skills and knowledge, which can help them bring their passions to work in new and innovative ways. Additionally, ServiceNow offers employees 20 hours of paid volunteering time off each year. This time can be used to volunteer for any organization that the employee is passionate about.
Employees are also encouraged to share their passions, interests and hobbies in other ways, such as company chat forums and team meetings.
Tell us about a time when you've engaged with or shared a passion of yours in the workplace. What was special or unique about this experience for you?
ServiceNow encourages employees to give back throughout the year. I used that opportunity to find and volunteer for a non-profit organization I felt passionate about, Community Bots. They provide training and equipment in STEM robotics for young women and their teachers in underserved communities around the world. What resonated with me was the opportunity to empower young girls in the fields of STEM. I was uniquely drawn to Latin America — where Community Bots does a lot of its work — because I had been increasing my fluency in Spanish, traveling to many Central and South American countries and seeing the disparities firsthand while there.
I started volunteering my time and skills as a video editor, producing promotional videos for them from the United States. The videos helped garner additional volunteers, funding and awareness.
I loved the organization so much that I joined its advisory board, too. Last summer, I traveled with them to the Dominican Republic to meet and film the students, which helped me understand the impact of my efforts on an even deeper level. I feel very fortunate to work for a company that encourages employees to find ways to use their passions and skills to give back.
I feel very fortunate to work for a company that encourages employees to find ways to use their passions and skills to give back.”
How does creating space for team members to share and engage with their passions help build culture and team camaraderie?
When people share their passions, they're opening up their lives and giving their coworkers a glimpse into who they are as individuals. This can help to build trust and relationships among team members. For me, sharing my volunteer experience allowed my coworkers to learn more about various things in which I’m interested — science and technology, documentary filmmaking and the Spanish language. In return, it created opportunities for me to learn more about my coworkers. For example, I learned about other colleagues’ volunteer experiences and travel interests, Dominican teammates and others who had children on Lego robotics teams. It’s been a very rewarding way to get to know each other outside of our day-to-day tasks.
At Flexe, deep logistics expertise and enterprise-grade technology help retailers and brands overcome complex omnichannel logistics challenges.
How does your company encourage team members to bring, or engage with, their passions at work?
Flexe offers several options for team members to engage with their passions at work. The most popular forums are dedicated Slack Channels — we have channels for hikers, musicians, parents, parents of twins and even a channel for those who like goats!
Each team also hosts regular team events such as bowling, escape room, ax throwing, best snack food brackets and guess the movie. There are also book clubs on topics like warehousing 101 or leadership, and lunch and learns for topics like product, marketing, logistics and transportation where they invite other functions to showcase their work and team members.
Tell us about a time when you've engaged with or shared a passion of yours in the workplace. What was special or unique about this experience for you?
I was once part of a weeklong strategy session with the senior leadership team. While sharing our hobbies, I revealed that outside of Flexe, I DJ small events around Seattle. I was asked, and I happily volunteered, to DJ a session for the leadership team in our new office space, which happened to include an empty warehouse at the time. This turned out to be a special opportunity to bring one of my passions to Flexe and get to know the CEO and staff in a fun, informal setting — with great acoustics.
Creating space for colleagues to share their passions is a great way to build connectedness and supercharge a team.”
How does creating space for team members to share and engage with their passions help build culture and team camaraderie?
Creating space for colleagues to share their passions is a great way to build connectedness and supercharge a team. A team member once facilitated a virtual tasting event where we all tried uniquely flavored sodas that were local to their city. This brought the team closer together, because we got to know that team member and their hometown better, and we learned about everyone’s individual likes or dislikes while sharing personal experiences with the flavors.
