Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Apologies that my monthly letter didn’t turn up on last week’s first Friday of the month. Well, sometimes stuff just happens, which in my case was a hectic and time-consuming conference all last week that just didn’t allow time for the muse to surface. However, what’s a week’s delay among friends, eh?
Thirty years ago, two internet sites using web technology, became the first of many to create social networks, and some of you may remember Classmates.com and SixDegrees.com. The basic idea was to build a like-minded community where members would create profiles for themselves, maintain lists of friends and contact one another through the site’s private messaging system. Since then, the evolution of social media has enveloped our workplaces as an extremely powerful force. Corporations now encourage increased use of these platforms for engaging with employees and customers alike. Resumés often arrive on my desk via contacts made through LinkedIn, Facebook and others. Though I’ve been a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to social media, now it just seems so heavily interwoven with our daily lives that I find myself increasingly communicating and building employee relationships through this medium.
Not surprisingly, a staggering 82% of the Canadian population are now avid users of social media. According to 2024 Data Control’s digital portal, we scroll our way through slightly less than 2 hours (1h54) per day on average. Frankly, I think the number of hours of usage is much more than that, for everywhere I go, I see folks glued to their phone screens on trains and buses, in stadiums, anywhere outdoors and even while dining in restaurants where they continue to periodically scroll for videos and messages.
Want to know where those 2 hours out of your day were spent in 2024? Here’s some interesting stats. Leading the way was YouTube at 31.9million users, followed by LinkedIn at 24million, Facebook at 23million and Instagram at 19.25million. X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, TikTok and Pinterest brought up the bottom half. When it came to gender distribution, except for LinkedIn, X, and TikTok, women exceeded men in using social media. More than just connecting with friends and families, they used the platforms to hunt for ideas, inspiration, products, even suitable job openings.
Talking about jobs and such; at the international business conference I mentioned above, I got to listen to an interesting lineup of speakers who came from across the globe. One stimulating session looked at the “Critical Role of Happiness in the Workplace”. The speaker, who is considered India’s 4th most powerful person in Advertising, Marketing & Media Business, centered his presentation on the three pillars of workplace happiness: Purpose, People and Peace of Mind, and I’d like to share with you some of my notes from this fascinating talk.
First – Purpose: No matter what profession we belong to, continue to remind ourselves why we do what we do. If our work positively impacts even one individual, it is meaningful. Hence finding purpose in our work transforms mere labour into a source of joy.
Next – People: We never work in isolation. Whether with colleagues or clients, our interactions shape our experience. Therefore, a simple ‘thank you’ or a helping hand can make the workplace feel less like a battlefield and more like a second home. Workplaces where people thrive are created with the mindset that it’s never just about the tasks; it is always about the people who bring those tasks to life.
Finally – Peace of Mind: We know meditation and exercise ensure mental and emotional resilience; however, peace of mind requires that we set boundaries to manage work-life balance (personally speaking, I must learn to heed this advice, judging by my balancing act of an 80/20 ratio of work/life). Success is not just about professional achievements but also about personal well-being, learning to handle workplace conflicts with grace and knowing when to step back. And most importantly, not to let perfection be the enemy of happiness, nor let stress be the driving force of achieving perfection but instead, moving forward by focusing on progress. Definitely food for thought.
And for my parting thought, here’s an interesting destination fact: In Vietnam, drinking snake wine is believed to improve your health. These wines are made from whole snakes seeped in rice wine. So if you wish to raise a glass…Cheers!
Here’s wishing all families, a very happy Mother’s Day!
Until next time,
Firdosh
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