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Within the next three years,[br]I want all employees around the world

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to feel happier[br]and more connected at work.

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In large corporations,[br]employees are often unhappy,

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which can lead to burn-out[br]and even sometimes suicide.

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One of the main reasons[br]is the lack of social engagement,

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and this is what I want to fight.

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I want to share my experience[br]working in a big bank in Switzerland.

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Don’t get me wrong.

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I love to work.

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But these conditions are very stressful.

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I had little to no free time,

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I cried often, and I was usually unhappy.

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I wasn't really meeting anyone new,

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and I was always with the same operants[br]from my department.

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At lunch, I would always eat alone[br]in front of my desk

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or with the same colleagues[br]from my department.

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So, I decided to change that.

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I realized that if I wanted[br]to be happy at work,

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I had to get to know people[br]from different backgrounds,

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and understand how the company works.

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So, I went to different floors,

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and asked people randomly[br]to have lunch with me.

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They were very surprised,[br]but most of the time they said yes.

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Once, I had a legal issue

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for the wealth management project[br]I was working on,

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and I thought that instead[br]of looking on Google for one hour,

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why not have lunch with someone[br]from the legal department?

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The next day we had lunch,

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the problem was solved,[br]and I made a new friend.

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Colleagues from my department[br]started to tell me,

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"Marie, you just joined us and Ethan,

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and you already know everyone.

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Can I come with you so I can also meet[br]new people during lunch?"

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Of course I told them to join.

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And at some point, I even had lunch[br]with the president of the bank.

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At the same time, I started opening[br]a collaborative space in Paris

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where people from different backgrounds,

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like engineers, designers, and artists[br]come together to meet and collaborate.

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And my motivation[br]for this project was simple.

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I believe that everyone[br]should have the ability to create.

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So I was flying every weekend[br]to make this project happen.

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And I was very creative,

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I had a lot of energy.

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I thought that everyone should create.

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Creation went exponential.

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The more people meet,[br]the more they discuss,

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the more they create.

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And I believe this model could also work[br]in banks and large corporations.

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So, I decided to leave[br]the banking world and university,

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in order to create an app,

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where employees can meet[br]and have the option to never eat alone.

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When a company has many employees,

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I see this as an amazing opportunity.

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Let’s pause for a minute and think

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that the true size of the company[br]is not the number of employees it has,

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but the connection between them,

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because this is[br]where the true strength resides:

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when people connect[br]with each other, they do things.

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they create things,[br]and potentially amazing things.

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Big companies are starting[br]to take care about this.

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When people connect, they’re[br]more productive and happy at work.

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The benefits for employees[br]and companies are simple.

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It improves knowledge exchange

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and collective intelligence[br]to spark innovation.

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It improves talent retention.

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It improves employees'[br]happiness and engagement.

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It improves[br]the internal professional network.

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If big companies want[br]what's right for the future generations,

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they need to create a workplace[br]where they are happy and creative,

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where speaking to your boss[br]or to someone from another department

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is a norm more than an exception.

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And for all of you who will soon graduate,

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think about this:

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what will your future employers do so[br]that you’ll be happy working with them?

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Thank you.