Anne Warfield is the owner of Impression Management Professionals, a Minneapolis leadership consulting firm. During engagements throughout the country, she has seen entertainment and recreation featured more and more often in business settings. Even so, entertainment can be an effective way to show the kind of respect and recognition Warfield cites. As part of its 25th anniversary celebration last year, The Ackerley Group Inc. rented Key Arena, bused in employees from throughout the Pacific Northwest and treated them to a surprise performance by Natalie Cole. Co-president Chris Ackerley says companywide activities like the anniversary celebration as well as ongoing events at the department level trigger a chain reaction.
Happy employees create happy clients whose increased spending creates happy stockholders.
Consequently, the agency has made a conscious effort to establish fun traditions that relieve stress, promote camaraderie and make employees want to work there. New employees are welcomed by The Little Red Wagon, which dispenses beer, pop and snacks on the employee's first Friday afternoon. They need to have some relevance to who you are as a company. Savitt pauses, then starts to laugh. I don't know what that says about us and the disco party, but it works.