AuthenTec is located in Melbourne, Fla., on the Intracoastal Waterway. To this end, the Salisbury, Mass., company gives its 23 employees free access to a nearby miniature golf course and driving range. One mental health day is given as a floater each quarter, while two are floaters throughout the year. So far, employees have been thrilled with the extra days off, Carlson says. Our productivity has absolutely increased.
People come back visibly refreshed.
The mental-health days are part of a corporate culture at PlumRiver that emphasizes a healthy balance between work and play, office and home. Before Carlson administered company mental-health days, he worked in mental health, as a therapist at a Dover, N.H., psychotherapy practice. Fundamentally I'm addressing a lot of the same things, like leadership training and how to have a difficult conversation in a way that will be most successful. But a recent baby boom among employees, who tend to be under 40 with kids, prompted the company to survey the staff for new family-friendly initiatives. A company book club, which came as a surprise to CEO Michael D. Webb.