Culture Club

We need to treat colleagues like family to succeed at work.

Agree or disagree?

Back in 2018, we had our very first holiday party. It was my mom, my aunt, my caregiver for Layla, Angie, my husband and I.

It was one of the most memorable holiday parties for me because we treated each other like family. Only two were not blood-related.

After Dragons' Den, we grew exponentially overnight and hired in a year, almost 40 new people.

For the first couple of years, I tried hard to keep that family atmosphere at work, but as we brought on different leadership teams, that view became unpopular.

"Tonia, it's lonely at the top, as the founder of the company, you have to keep a distance between you and staff "

"Tonia, it's unadvisable that you go out for lunch with employees."

"Tonia, these are your employees, not your friends "

It was confusing, exhausting, and heartbreaking for me. This isn't who I am.

Sure, I've been burned and hurt by employees whom I trusted and became friends with, but the number of those people is far less than the ones whom I remain in contact with today, even if they no longer work at our company.

In the last two years, I've learned what I want and what I don't want, and it's not an organization led by fear, intimidation, and bullying.

We have built a lean and mighty team that respects, appreciates, and honors our vision for the company, and we're growing again.

They have no issue letting Hatem, and I know when they don't agree with something, but they do it with grace and kindness, not condescension and manipulation.

This year's holiday party was just as amazing as the one in 2008, and we laughed, cried, played silly games, and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. It was the longest staff holiday party I've ever tended, and I didn't want to leave.

Rather than leave our personal lives at the door, we should take inspiration from our home relationships and apply them in the workplace

For many leaders, founders and CEO's, the traditional work-life balance is very unrealistic. We can never really 'switch off' completely. Our work follows us home, and our home follows us to work – mainly if we are passionate about that work and making sure employees keep their jobs, which we are.

My wish for you this coming year is a workplace that is fun, respectful, and full of possibilities. The picture below sums up our culture at Sipology and I intend to keep it this way for as long as possible.

You can have this too.

xo