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Giving back

This is how we give back, as told by Ted Schellenberg of B1G1

Tell us your story of giving below.

We all seem to lose our balance every now and then, as we go about our lives. Luckily we often find a way to ‘right ourselves’ quickly, because we just seem to know, instinctively, what has to be done – less of this, more of that – to regain our balance. However, keeping the right balance at work can be a little more difficult, as somebody else is usually making the decisions there!

Enter Susan Rochester of Sydney, Australia. Susan believes that everyone has the right to be happy at work – including the boss. Her company offers a suite of online surveys that help managers to hire right the first time, to lead with confidence and to create a motivational culture.

With a name like ‘Balance at Work‘, we’ve always known that work is about a lot more than just making money,” Susan told us. “We were inspired to join B1G1 when we heard Chairman Paul Dunn speak here in Sydney. Such a simple and effective way for Balance at Work to ‘give back’ was really appealing to us. We particularly liked that we could link our contributions to B1G1 with our work with clients.

Their company website proclaims that “The Right Balance Delivers the Best Result”, and to get the best results from their giving program, Susan’s team took a page from their own company playbook – sitting down and spending time co-ordinating and balancing their contributions.

Each of the projects we contribute to is linked to a service we sell,” she says, “And those B1G1 projects are often relevant to that service. Over the time we’ve been a B1G1 partner, we’ve selected projects involving primary, computer and workforce education, microcredit, life coaching, meals and the environment!

We’ve found B1G1 makes giving more of a regular habit. B1G1 keeps us informed and makes it easy to share the concept with our clients.

Growing a business is hard work, and Susan told us that the B1G1 program helps that happen in a very balanced way: “Knowing that as our business grows we are able to help even more people to have a better life helps to make it worth the effort!

We are all capable of so much more than we think, and that’s especially true when it comes to global giving through B1G1. It really does give you a nice balance at work and in life!

About Susan Rochester

BSc MHRM FIML
Susan Rochester has been managing director of Balance at Work since 2006. Susan has a natural tendency to balance analytical thinking with an optimistic outlook to set direction and solve problems. She is an effective facilitator and constantly creates new and more effective ways of doing things, motivated by helping others to achieve their goals.

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