The SAF/FPO Alliance is using the findings of a recent Harvard study to promote flowers in the workplace through a new PR campaign, launched in mid-July.

Through the Alliance, SAF and the Flower Promotion Organization commissioned the Harvard study that identifies the factors most likely to impact 21st century employees.

The study shows that employee commitment is "largely influenced by one's sense of purpose, feeling of personal impact, and overall trust in the organization they work for." The study's lead researcher, Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says, "The results lead us to conclude that the workplaces that provide positive environments to foster interpersonal trust and quality personal relationships create the most committed and productive employees."

To help foster corporate purpose and trust, in a press release workplace relationship expert and the campaign's spokeswoman Courtney Anderson, J.D., M.B.A., advises that employers and employees "manage their physical environments as much as their workload," and do "little things like adding flowers to your workspace or taking a few extra minutes to get to know your co-workers."

In the press release, Anderson cites the 2006 Home Ecology of Flowers study, which proves flowers have an energizing effect on people at work, and SAF's Rutgers and Texas A&M studies which confirm that adding flowers to an environment can enhance moods, social interaction, and on-the-job creativity and productivity.

The press release was sent to business and human resource publications, news and talk radio stations, and general print media nationwide. The SAF/FPO Alliance will continue to promote the program throughout the fall.

The Workplace PR program is the second collective effort by the Alliance, formed in 2006. The first, the Home Ecology of Flowers Study and PR program, was launched in October 2006 and has generated nearly 157 million consumer impressions to date. The coverage includes newspaper, television, and radio stories in 23 local markets nationwide and placements in nine national magazines such as AARP, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, Health, and Reader's Digest.

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org