Canon Middle East spreads happiness through workplace opportunities

Canon Middle East, a leader in digital imaging solutions, embarked on a series of employee-led projects inspired by the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’ as well as the global One Million Acts of Kindness mission. Developed under an overarching campaign called ‘Follow Your Happiness,’ Canon’s initiatives target its own employees by giving them the opportunity to become active members within their own work environment as well as the larger community.

Anurag Agrawal, Managing Director, Canon Middle East said: “We were inspired by the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’ and One Million Acts of Kindness initiatives, both of which encourage people to have lifetime goals of doing an act of goodwill for others. This clearly resonates with Canon’s global corporate philosophy of ‘Kyosei,’ which means living and working together for the common good. By delivering social and environmental benefits through our people and products, we are powerfully demonstrating our commitment to our philosophy.”

“In 2017 we established the ‘Follow You Happiness’ campaign driven by the three pillars of Future, Youth and Happiness to coincide with the themes the UAE government enforces on a nation-wide level. Together, the three pillars create an interconnected Canon ecosystem for our campaign led by the participation and contribution of our employees,” added Agrawal. Each of Canon’s campaign pillars has a series of projects and initiatives for Canon’s employees to participate in and sustain the campaign. The pillars create an environment whereby Canon employees are given the tools, physical and intellectual space to grow, become more optimistic about their future, use and develop their creativity, and actively participate within society. Furthermore, each time an employee participates in any activity within the three pillars, Canon contributes 400 dirhams to donate to two charities by the end of 2017. Within the first pillar, Youth, Canon is looking to attract and retain young talent because investing in youth empowers them to grow and lead in the future.

To facilitate this Canon initially set up the Millennial Club, which acts as a sounding board between the employees and upper management to relay ideas and suggestions to facilitate sincere dialogue within Canon. In addition, an internship program was developed to give opportunities to fresh graduates to work within Canon. The interns are given the opportunity to work on projects, develop their creativity and youthful innovative ideas, and learn about Canon’s work environment. For the even younger generation, Canon established Generation Z; a week-long opportunity for 14-18-year-old relatives of employees to work on a project within Canon.

The second pillar, Future, allows Canon to provide tools for its employees to be more creative and innovative in their work. Canon is open to alternative thought processes and inventive projects to drive an original and inspirational working environment. This is facilitated by the soon to be launched Canon’s Innovation Hub which gives employees the physical space and tools to brainstorm and develop their unique ideas. For employees to witness any of their innovative concepts come to life is an achievement that pushes their boundaries and enhances their capabilities.

“Within the third Happiness pillar, we created a supportive and happy environment internally within Canon, so our employees can then spread it outwards to the community. We did this through a series of meaningful projects such as volunteering opportunities, corporate social responsibility initiatives, cultural activities, health and fitness programs, and more importantly a complete Canon office overhaul. The office renovation certainly increased creativity, productivity and above all, employee satisfaction with their work environment,” added Agrawal.

This Ramadan, a time for giving back to the community, Canon employees are participating in two corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The first initiative is to support the Ministry of Health and the Sharjah Blood Transfusion and Research Centre on World Blood Donation Day by distributing giveaways to people who have donated blood to show appreciation for their participation and support. Special gifts will also be given to frequent blood donors. The campaign will last for four days across multiple mosque locations in Sharjah from 12-14 June after Iftar.

The second campaign Canon is participating in is DU’s annual Mawaed Al-Rahman initiative, which packs and distributes food boxes to families in need during Ramadan. The campaign relies primarily on volunteers to pack and distribute the food boxes, and this year Canon’s employees heavily participated in packing 120 boxes to reach 40 families. The Blood Donation campaign and Mawaed AlRahman initiative both fall on Zayed Humanitarian Day, which is commemorated on the 19th of Ramadan every year, and celebrates the accomplishments and humanitarian legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.