Mercer and smith magazine invite workers to submit “six words about
work” to contest and book
New york--(business wire)--mercer, a leading provider of consulting, outsourcing and investments, and smith magazine, a leader in personal, passionate user-generated content, today announced a partnership that will launch an online contest called “six words about work” and publish a book that will capture the best contest submissions. the free contest, a new edition to smith’s six-word memoir® series, is open to the general public and will be conducted in four phases beginning june 29 and ending in late august. each two-week phase will feature one work-related submission topic for contest submissions. the contest topics include: why i do what i do what inspires my very best work the best boss i ever had biggest lesson i learned at work the contest will be held in the us, uk and canada. participants will submit their six-word memoirs via the smith website (www.smithmag.net/sixwordsaboutwork). each country will have four winners, one for each phase of the contest, selected by a panel of judges. winners will be chosen based on the submission’s creativity, quality and relevance to the topic. winners will receive their choice of a new apple ipad or blackberry® playbook™. winners will be notified on or around september 1, 2011. complete rules are available www.smithmag.net/sixwordsaboutwork. judges will be well-known authors and experts on work-related issues, including gretchen rubin, author of the happiness project; anne ruddy, president of worldatwork; tony schwartz, author of be excellent at anything: the four keys to transforming the way we work and live; and david allen, author of getting things done. the best submissions from each of the three countries in each category will appear in a book co-published by mercer and smith magazine later in 2011. each participant whose submission is included will receive a free copy of the book. “we are excited and proud to be part of the highly regarded six-word memoir series,” said steve faigen, enterprise research and marketing leader at mercer. “sponsoring ‘six words about work’ is part of our way of bringing to life in very personal, creative and tangible ways how employees feel about their work experience. the end goal of course is to help employers better connect and engage their workforce in order to leverage the true competitive advantage in the world today – human talent.” “in nearly five years of creating six-word memoir projects, with nearly half a million submissions, it’s clear that the common denominator about what spurs people to participate in a topic is passion,” says larry smith, founder of smith magazine, home of the six-word memoir project. “in today’s world, work has never been more personal and complex. distilling one’s work life down to its essence will prove to be popular, addictive and a perfect place for the series to go.” the six words about work contest is designed to draw attention to a mercer client outreach program aimed at helping employers to better measure and improve employee engagement, a crucial driver of business success. as part of mercer’s campaign, “inside employees' minds: navigating the new rules of engagement,” the contest puts a human face on the work experience and provides insight onto what motivates and drives today’s workers. for more information about the program, visit www.mercer.com/insideemployeesminds. note to the editors mercer defines engagement as a psychological state in which employees feel a vested interest in the company’s success and are both willing and motivated to perform to levels that exceed the stated job requirements. it reflects how employees feel about the overall work experience – the organization, its leaders, the work environment, and the recognition and rewards they receive for their efforts. about mercer mercer is a global leader in human resource consulting, outsourcing and investment services. mercer works with clients to solve their most complex benefit and human capital issues by designing, implementing and administering health, retirement and other benefit programs. mercer’s investment services include investment consulting, implemented consulting and multi-manager investment management. mercer’s 20,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries. the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of marsh & mclennan companies, inc., which lists its stock (ticker symbol: mmc) on the new york and chicago stock exchanges. for more information, visit www.mercer.com. about smith magazine founded in january 2006 by with the tagline, “everyone has a story. what’s yours?” smith magazine has become a leader in personal storytelling. smith is home of the six-word memoir® project, now a bestselling book series, calendar, board game, live event series and global phenomenon. for more information, visit www.smithmag.net.
