HotDoc Encourages Staff to Shoot for the Stars
Recently HotDoc’s CEO, Dr. Ben Hurst, developed a program to inspire employees to achieve the unachievable. And so HotDoc’s ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goals’ (BHAGs) program was born.
What is a BHAG?
In a business sense, a BHAG is a visionary goal that is put in place to align and inspire employees to do great work. HotDoc’s BHAG is to “Improve the health care experience for everyone in Australia.” This is what the team at HotDoc strives toward—it’s why we get out of bed to come to work every day.
But what if each employee set their own personal BHAG? Ben wanted to inspire HotDoc employees by encouraging them to focus on something that was scary, but deep down they believed they could do.
Ben Hurst shares,
“Last year I managed to cycle a marathon
in under an hour on my exercise bike. It was an arbitrary goal six months in the making from a very low base of fitness. But I was very proud on the day I hit my goal with 13 seconds to spare. It made me think ‘if I can do that, what else is possible?“
“When I introduced BHAGs to HotDoc’s employees, I was hoping to share the same sense of pride and confidence I felt when I hit my goal,” Ben says.
What are some of our BHAGs?
Craig Sheen (Senior Software Engineer) has a BHAG of running a marathon in under 4 hours, while Steph Bast (Senior Customer Success Manager) has a BHAG to complete an outdoors top rope climb. These are two great examples of HotDoc BHAGs!
Out of almost 100 staff, we have over 50 people locked in for HotDoc Employee BHAG 1.0.
As part of the process, HotDoc will contribute $500 to each employee to help them reach their goal. This can be used for things such as purchasing equipment or getting training.
Introducing our BHAG buddies and mentors
As part of the BHAG program, each participating employee has been buddied up with a colleague that has a similar BHAG. The buddies are tasked with holding each other accountable and helping inspire one another to reach the finish line.
Participants have also been split into 4 groups, with each group being partnered with an external mentor. The external mentors are Australians who have reached the peak of their respective fields.
Team Layne Beachley
Led by Layne Beachley AO, who is the most successful female surfer in history.
Team Sam Lane
Led by Sam Lane, who is an award-winning journalist and a trailblazer in the coverage of sport in Australia.
Team Daniel Kowalski
Led by Dan Kowalski OAM, who is an Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist.
Team Lisa Weightman
Led by Lisa Weightman, Australia’s #1 female marathon runner and a Commonwealth Games Silver Medalist.
“BHAGs stretch us, challenge us to be better than we were yesterday and espouse a growth mindset. My BHAG was to become the most successful surfer in history, to claim six consecutive world titles, and improve the state of women’s surfing. A clear direction simplifies the process. Sharing my experiences—both in an out of the water—to support others to be their very best intrinsically motivates me, which is why I willingly jumped onboard to assist and encourage the HocDoc team to achieve their goals.”
Layne Beachley OA
“I feel honoured to be invited, didn’t hesitate saying yes, and absolutely loved the first meeting with an inspired group of faces and minds. It’s so important—I’d say never more so than now, given the global phenomenon of COVID-19 and its countless ripple effects—that we recognise, and relate to, people as whole beings. A program like this strikes me as a case of an employer demonstrating commitment to that ideal through tangible means. How often, in life, are we asked as individuals what we really want to do deep down, then have an organisation support it with structure and intent, with a cheer squad and charity donations to boot? I’m excited not only by the philosophy behind this but by the creations, and community building, that will come from it.”
Sam Lane
The reward for achieving a BHAG
For any buddy group that achieves each of their BHAGs, HotDoc will contribute $500 to the charity of their choice!
Stay tuned… over the coming weeks, we’re going to profile each mentor and some of the individual BHAGs. This is an exciting time for all of our staff and we look forward to sharing our progress.
