The Workspace: A "Living Space" to Explore Interests and Values
Welcome. Glad you're here.
Nádia Leal Cruz , Communication and Marketing Manager of Natixis in Portugal , reflects on the importance of internal communication, in a period when employee involvement matters.
What is your view on the role of internal communication in building a positive corporate culture and in employee well-being?
Internal Communication is the fundamental vehicle for making employees feel truly engaged in the daily activities and in the organisation’s strategic goals. At Natixis in Portugal , we develop Internal Communication to increase the employees' sense of belonging, to strengthen the organisational culture and to promote work-life balance.
The workspace can and should be a “living space” where we explore interests and values. We believe that their engagement is vital to creativity, productivity, motivation, and well-being.
What is Natixis' strategy regarding sustainability and ecology and how is communication used to increase awareness and engagement in these topics?
Effective communication is fundamental to ensure everyone's engagement in the organisation's DNA and has proved to be crucial for us to implement our Social and Environmental Responsibility strategy and its flagship projects, such as Natixis Urban Garden.
Natixis in Portugal also has the Green Community, led by a group of employees, whose goal is to promote the sharing of knowledge on sustainability and environment-related topics and to organise internal initiatives in the same field.
Does Natixis have a corporate social responsibility programme? How do you promote those initiatives among employees?
In terms of Corporate Social Responsibility, we highlight our urban garden – Natixis Urban Garden, inaugurated in September 2019, with Noocity as a partner in this project. Currently, the vegetable garden has 20 growbeds, where tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, onions, spinach, leeks and peas, and seasonal vegetables are planted, and the main benefit is linked to the positive impact on the surrounding community: all the vegetables harvested are donated to the Legion of Good Will, our “neighbours” in the community.
In 2022, around 200 kg of vegetables were donated. Natixis Urban Garden is a space for leisure, interaction and sharing. To further enrich this space, the vegetable garden is the place chosen by most employees for breaks, meals and internal initiatives.
The Natixis Urban Garden volunteer team participated in capacity-building sessions and meets monthly for maintenance works led by Noocity.
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Finally, what were the factors that led to the implementation of the Noocity’s vegetable garden?
Our team came up with the idea of implementing Natixis Urban Garden as a result of the first internal hackathon, in 2018, and it is still managed by employees.
This is a space of excellence to promote well-being and contact with nature, in an urban scenario, without leaving the office.
In 2022, on World Biodiversity Day, we installed the first Bee Hotels in Natixis Urban Garden, in partnership with Noocity. With these bee “hotels” we intend to promote pollination in urban contexts and the diversity of bees while taking advantage of their presence and benefits for the dynamization and maintenance of the garden.
In the words of Walmira Costa, Senior Developer of Natixis:
I usually go to Natixis Urban Garden every day to sunbathe while looking at the flowers in spring. I take the opportunity to pull some weeds from the plant beds and, sometimes, to pick some vegetables that I am happy to donate to the Legion of Good Will. This routine is good for my spirit and soul, since I can be in contact with nature during working hours.
I also feel that my productivity improves: when I have problems to fix, I just go to the Urban Garden, I touch the soil for a little while and, when I return to my desk, I feel much more relaxed and, many times, I already have the solution to the initial problem.
In addition, I know that I learn a lot in the monthly meetings with Noocity. This project inspired me beyond the workplace: I have recently created a small vegetable garden at home together with a neighbour and I couldn't be more pleased!