2011m. December 08d.
Representatives of AXIS TRANSPORT UAB believe that their efforts in overcoming the marathon will have a positive impact upon their daily work. PHOTO BY HERKUS MILAŠEVIČIUS
To prove themselves and others that their team is both strong and able to reach even the most ambitious goals, employees of the logistics and transportation company Axis Transport UAB registered for the marathon that will take place next year in Berlin. To overcome 42,195 km, enthusiasts gather four times a week and train patiently. Business consultants called this idea smart, because the decision can provide various benefits to both the employees and the Company.
“In business, sales are like running. Many are able to sprint, i.e. achieve short-term results. But those who want to survive marathon, must do their best to prepare for it. A part of our team wants to prove that we have matured enough to accept such challenges, so for some time we gather after work at the capital’s Vingis Park and train hard”, says Tomas Degutis, Head of AXIS Transport UAB Sales Department.
Although the Berlin marathon will take place only in September next year, the team already started intensive training four times a week. According to Norbertas Akromas, the Company’s Sales Manager and future marathon participant, the decision to overcome the long distance is related to the Company’s strategy and vision.
“At forwarder’s work seconds are worth their weight in gold. However, should we confine ourselves to them, we’ll never be able to know how are we going to live tomorrow. Therefore, when performing our daily work, we look far into the future and plan, what and where our company will be in a year or two or five from now. After all, you can not see the finish when running a marathon. What you have is goal and desire to reach it”, he explains.
The Company’s team will attempt to assay their strength in the New Year marathon in Vilnius. According to them, only training is not enough, they want to compete. However, the main focus is the Berlin marathon. It was chosen because, according to many experienced runners, participation in it has the most emotional charge. It seems that one acquires a second breath
because there are tens of thousands of participants, who are annually being watched by about one million audience.
Credence will grow
Business consultants say that they were pleasantly surprised after learning about the employees’ decision and the Company’s support.
“In my opinion, this idea is both original and smart. And it includes several aspects. First, it will help to strengthen cooperation among the colleagues, since they will be spending much time together. Yes, they will be seeing each other breathless and sweaty, but the shared goal will draw them together. Experience shows that return on investment in the companies with strong mutual understanding is three times higher than in those with communication culture less outstanding”, comments Rytis Juozapavičius, training lecturer of the FranklinCovey consulting company. “Second, movement stimulates brain activity. Thus, accompanied by link-minded people, such man will be able to achieve better results than the one who rarely rises from his or her work desk.
“We are pleased that the Lithuanian capital company supports this initiative. Usually, care and non-traditional employee motivation is more common in the Scandinavian companies, but this example shows that managers of the local
companies are full of originality and desire to make people feel better”, says the consultant.
He even advises to measure the change in the organization culture throughout this project. Various techniques can be applied to do that. Even if the company representatives will not bring stunning results to the table, their efforts will not go to waste, because, according to Mr. Juozapavičius, relationship between co-workers will grow stronger, which, as mentioned above, may improve the Company’s performance several times.
Setting an example
Not everybody will manage to overcomr several tens of kilometers. Therefore, only five representatives of the Company decided to participate in the marathon. After all, the Axis Transport employees workers (33 in total) may also find other activities, which will both make sense and held them to unite with their colleagues.
“We are thinking of more and more initiatives. For example, we may go to collect garbage, although the area does not belong to us. Or visit foster home and communicate with the children living there. We want to both focus ourselves and help others. After all, you get what you give”, explains Mr. Degutis, one of the Company’s owners.
Aspiration to make everyone (and that includes all employers and employees) feel good is to be noted as one of the Company’s values. The Company chooses its employees based on their values rather than their experience. Mr. Degutis said that so far such strategy has been proving its value, since changing already ingrained habits is much more difficult than providing suitable conditions for their formation.
Source: http://laikrastis.vz.lt/index.php?act=mprasa&sub=page&id=891&page=14119&type=1&z=60
