Inspiring Workplaces: Thanking Your Support Team

Published: Wed, 12/07/16

Humor at Work

ISSUE 658 - Dec 7, 2016


			Thanking Your Support Team

	Inspiring companies embrace the idea that employees' families are a critical part of their support team. More and more organizations, in fact, are discovering that focusing on employees' families helps reduce employee turnover and absenteeism rates. Here are a few ways companies are expressing their appreciation directly to employees' families (from the book, The Best Place to Work by Ron Friedman): Talent Plus recruiting agency invites family members to tour the company the first day an employee starts on the job. McMurray marketing agency sends flowers or cookies to the home of a new employee after a job offer is accepted. Kimpton Hotels sends a gift basket home when an employee works extra hours. The accounting firm EKS & H sends a thank-you note and $100 gift card to spouses of employees after the end of tax season. Holder Construction sends teddy bears to the older siblings when a new baby arrives. Snagajob sends chef-prepared meals for a week to an employee's home when a baby arrives. Studer Group offers a gift certificate on every child's birthday. Altson & Bird has a wall dedicated to the artwork of employees' children. Badger Mining offers a scholarship to high-achieving students. Integrity Applications Incorporated invites employees' children to help them design their holiday greeting card.

		Mike's Fun at Work Tip

An idea inspired by Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day (December 8): Create a theme day where everyone has to dress from clothing typical of the year they were born in, or a theme day where everyone dresses from the future. And if those two ideas are too out there for your team, use the theme day as inspiration for a "get to know you better" meeting icebreaker question by asking everyone if they could time travel, what year would they travel to and why?
		Quote of the Week

“The whole art of life is in knowing how to convert anxiety into laughter.” Alan Watts
		It's a Wacky World

No doubt there are entire books of accidental humor based on advertising slogans gone horribly lost in translation. A Pepsico ad, for example, was supposed to have read: "Come Alive With Pepsi" but due to some rather sloppy translation ended up running in China as: "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave."

Cost-Savings to Bring Mike in to Speak
Okanagan: "I need to see Mom" special rate on-going!
Saskatoon: March 3
Winnipeg: June 20-22
Florida, July 2-9

Humor@Work YouTube
Do introverts and humor mix? Introverts and Humor at Work

More Reading
Mike is quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune article: It Pays to Play

Follow Humor at Work