This morning I had a wonderful experience at the bank. Yes, at the bank… Bank of Queensland in Stafford. So without checking the time, I just stopped there on the way home from a meeting. As I went to walk through the door, the door didn’t open and I could see the team members sitting behind the glass in a circle. I looked at the opening time (9.30), looked at my watch (9:28), and stood on the pavement soaking up the morning sun’s energy for a couple of minutes.

When I walked into the bank, firstly, Jarrod recognised me, and welcomed me with a big smile. As he was serving me, I could hear a group of other people laughing and giggling in the adjacent corridor. Vitality for all to feel. I said to him, “Gee, you must have had fun at your team meeting today. Is that unusual or do you always have fun?”

He said, “Well, we try to make them fun even if they’re about a serious topic. We try to introduce an element of fun somehow, but today, yes, we had more fun than usual. We had a visitor attend and, the meeting was more frivolous.

I said, “Well that is just so, so nice to see. You can feel the energy. The happy energetic vibes are carrying through to the customers and that’s a really good thing.”

So what is the value of being happy at work? New York Times bestselling author Annie McKee, in her book ‘How to Be Happy at Work’, says, “Life is too short to be unhappy at work.”

Most people, spend more time at work than they do not at work or at home. When I talk about PEPP© (Purpose + Energy + Pleasure + Profit) and PEPPenergy in particular, I say that our energy is contagious and the vibe we have is carried through wherever we are and whatever we’re doing. Vitality travels.

So I invite you to think about that and whether you have a team meeting with just yourself, whether you have a team meeting with employees or contractors; and how you lead that meeting to “feel”, whatever is being discussed. I understand that sometimes serious things have to be addressed, but at the end of the day, we want people to feel great about themselves and where they’re working because the customers will feel it too.

Bank of Queensland have the motto “It’s possible to love a bank”. It was a really terrific experience in Stafford today and shows they live by that tagline. I’m a regular and have always felt welcomed and comfortable. When I asked if it was a great place to work, Jarrod said, “Yes, this is the best place to work. I wouldn’t want to be with any other team.” Very well done Jo Volstead, BOQ Stafford Owner Manager.

How can you have your team members saying that about your work environment?