November 29, 2018
by Sanji Bhal, Director, Marketing & Communications, ACD/Labs
Here at ACD/Labs, we believe that collaboration is truly the cornerstone of innovation. We feel privileged to work with peers that embrace a collaborative spirit and lean on teamwork in an effort to exchange ideas freely and ultimately, deliver value to our customers. This type of work ethic stems from creating a certain type of work culture that invites open communication. According to PwC’s Innovation Benchmark, 61 percent of executives are embracing open innovation to generate new ideas, which is a step in the right direction to foster a strong internal team who can deliver results together. We recognize that leveraging our open eco-system of chemical experts across the globe is critical to driving our continued innovation and commitment to supporting companies on their quest to accelerate R&D.
With the end of the year quickly approaching, what better time to reflect on the work that your team has accomplished this year and recognize the foundation that lends itself to this success—laboratory culture. As the holidays are a great time to boost employee morale and encourage team building activities, here’s how you can spread holiday, or as I’d like to call it, “chemical” cheer in the lab this year to foster scientific discovery year round:
- Build a chemis-tree and decorate it with lab equipment—test tubes aren’t just for the lab anymore, they can be great decorations too!
- Get to know your colleagues by bonding over your favorite elements. Some chemists have personal connections to their favorite elements—like me. I named my oldest child Arjun after my favorite element, Argentum. Argon was critical in helping our marketing and communications specialist, Jessica Litman, finish her PhD, which is why it’s her favorite element now.
- Sing a chemistry-carol with coworkers! Here are a few of my favorites:
- Crack some jokes with a colleague you haven’t met yet, like these:
- Q: What do Cobalt and Aluminum get for Christmas? A: CoAl
- Q: How does a Spectrum find its structural match? A: EluciDATE
- Q: What is iron’s favorite amusement park ride? A: The ferrous wheel
- Choose a meaningful charitable cause and host a holiday donation drive. Given our commitment to enabling chemical learning worldwide through our partnership with ChemSpider—a chemical database owned by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)—the RSC’s charitable fund is especially dear to us this time of year.
- Explore the chemistry of sugar cookies with a new recipe!
- Take a long lunch break to test out these Christmas combustion chemistry experiments with your team.
Fostering a company culture that celebrates employee engagement begins with the little things. It may begin by getting to know your colleagues’ favorite elements, but as you develop relationships over time, learning from each other’s diverse backgrounds may be key to your next breakthrough. Let us know how you’re spreading chemical cheer and bonding with colleagues by commenting below or messaging us on Twitter at @ACDLabs.
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