IST uses Halloween as a chance to boost employee engagement.
All companies want their employees to be engaged and to have high morale, but ensuring high employee morale is not the easiest feat and it takes extra effort on the part of the company. In order to boost employee morale, IST uses a number of methods to ensure that the company has a fun culture, and Halloween is no exception.
At IST, Halloween it’s called “Fun Day.” The goal is to engage employees, have some laughs, make it entertaining and give out a few rewards as an extra treat in the employees’ goody bags.
“I have a passion for service excellence and that includes having fun on the job,” said Hal Blackman, founder, president & CEO of IST. Programs and company rituals that instill humor, jokes and plain, good old fashion fun can make it a trick and a treat to come to work. According to a Gallup survey, 50.8% of American workers are not engaged in their jobs. Having fun on the job is one way to engage workers. Fun Day at IST is held on a Friday if Halloween is on a week-end or on Halloween if it occurs during the week. Shown below are a few frightfully delightful tips on how to conduct a fantastic Fun Day in your company:
Communicate. Tell employees in advance what Fun Day is all about. It is a chance for every employee to do whatever is necessary to make people laugh and smile. Costumes, jokes, pranks and other creative ideas are encouraged within reason.
Give Away Prizes. Build in some friendly competition throughout the company. Employees can submit a video, presentation or picture showing how they celebrated Fun Day.
Explain the Rules. The top winners can be the person or group who generates the most fun, smiles, creativity, originality, exciting locations or spooky scenes for best costume or decorations.
Grant Monetary Awards. Financial awards will depend on your budget. IST grants three separate monetary awards based on creativity, costume and picture.
Provide Free Lunch. A luncheon at the office can bring everyone together. Have a local restaurant cater the food or ask your employees to bring in their favorite dish to share.
Do an Outside Event. This can be a lot of fun and is only limited by your imagination. IST has human soccer contests. Employees get into huge plastic balls and try to knock each other over. It’s a blast.
Bring in Live Animals. This is one of the highlights on Fun Day. IST brings in live, exotic animals such as parrots, bearded dragons and kangaroos. It is great for pictures and is always a warm and fuzzy experience.
There are only four animals on earth that genuinely know how to laugh and smile. They are apes, monkeys, chimpanzees and humans. We’re wired to laugh and smile. It’s in our DNA. Common sense dictates that humor is a great way to increase employee morale and reduce stress. A chuckle a day keeps those office blues away.
