Become a "Top Employer" – Install an Indoor Ecosystem!

Image: Indoor Ecosystem and Breathing Wall for Club Monaco Employees

There’s no question that attracting and retaining quality people is a challenge faced by many businesses these days. The competition for skilled workers—be they blue collar or white—can be fierce among competitors and the stakes can be very high indeed, from present quality to future innovation.

It’s safe to say that for an institution like the Bank of Canada, having top-notch talent is integral given its high-stakes activities. From forecasting economic growth to calculating domestic interest rates, careless mistakes by employees at the BoC could have dire financial and economic repercussions.

Perhaps that’s why the BoC decided to include an indoor tropical garden complete with a waterfall in its 1979 addition. While not an ecosystem per se, the garden literally brings to life the building’s atrium.

Image: The Bank of Canada’s interior tropical garden with waterfall is one of the reasons 
why it was selected one of Canada’s Top 100 Employees for 2013.
"The Bank of Canada Building is the head office of the Bank of Canada, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The glass structure behind the original 1937 structure was completed in 1979 by the firm Marani Rounthwaite & Dick (successor to Marani, Lawson and Morris) and Arthur Erickson. The building contains an enclosed courtyard with a large tropical garden bordering a shallow pool which is very popular with wedding photographers, and a three-ton Yap Stone."
Source: wikipedia.org: Bank of Canada Building 
Image Credit: Wikipedia: Inside the new glass addition 
to the Bank of Canada building. Author: Jonathon Simister

The indoor garden space is among several initiatives to improve work environment and contribute to positive work-life balance for employees, including:
"…onsite fitness facility (with partially subsidized membership for employees and their families), rooftop terrace and outdoor eating area, nap room, quiet room for meditation and reflection…"
~ eluta.ca: Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2013: Bank of Canada

Wo-Built’s Peapod Life Building EcoSystems and Technology offers businesses of all sizes an opportunity to increase employee morale, as well as their focus and productivity.

Panasonic installed an ecosystem in the cafeteria as a "gift" for their employees. Within weeks, salespeople started conducting sales meetings in the cafeteria and reported an increase in sales!

Image: Cafeteria Living Wall Ecosystem at Panasonic

Of course, it takes more than just a living wall to skyrocket into the "best in class" employers list. But one cannot deny the powerful gesture providing indoor garden space to employees represents, especially in Canada, where "tropical paradise" usually means going on vacation, not going to work!

If you don’t have an employee wellness and satisfaction program, Peapod Life is the perfect "anchor" to start developing one. If your business already does have such programs in place, Peapod Life is the perfect way to take them to a whole new level.

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build