While most companies can easily organize a day of fun, food and team-building for their employees, there are many companies and organizations that find such outings to be a challenge. Police and fire departments, news organizations, utilities and other offices that can’t close shop need to find creative ways to socialize.
These groups do tend to get together either for charity events, work-related meetings or just for an after-work gathering. Despite their busy schedules, most of these groups usually find the time.
The South Kingstown Police Department used to have more work-related social functions years ago when the department had rotating shifts, according to Officer Paul Horoho. Now, because shifts are dictated by seniority, the young officers work and socialize with each other, and the middle-aged group of officers like Horoho, as well as the older officers, do the same separately.
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“We’re not a very sociable group,” Horoho said. “We’re very cliquey.”
It’s a side effect of spending an entire shift working with the same group of officers, not a lack of social grace. Simply put, when the day shift gets off work, they sometimes hang out. The third shift, however, just doesn’t fit into the schedule.
“It’s set up by shifts – those are the guys you associate with,” Horoho said. “It’s just the way you work – we don’t work Monday through Friday and plan a picnic on a Saturday. We have eight guys working, eight guys off and eight guys who just got off shift and all they want to do is go to bed.”
Most of the larger events are organized and held by the police union, he said, but those are infrequent. Every so often, the union organizes a steak fry, but with the proviso that it is also a union meeting.
“The guys go and eat for their lunch break, but they’re on duty so they have to answer the calls if they come in,” Horoho said. “For people who are off, it becomes (more of) a social event.”
The department holds its annual golf tournament for charity, but not everyone attends. Horoho said 20 to 25 officers attend the event; the rest are on duty or don’t golf. Missing an occasional party is just part of the job, he said.
Gatherings might include a retirement party or Christmas party, but they aren’t very big, the patrolman said, and again, only the people not on duty attend.
Some might get off their shift and attend, and others might go for a while before they head into work, but the attendees are usually the officers who work together on a certain shift.
East Providence Fire Chief Joseph G. Castro said that besides the monthly chief’s meetings and assorted fund-raisers – which include golf tournaments – the members of the department usually find time to get together for parties, although not often.
“That’s about as social as it gets,” he said of the golfing, which is a favorite among his firefighters. Outside of work there are gatherings, but not everyone can always be included.
“You can have them, but two groups can’t attend,” Castro said of the shift working at the time of the function and the shift just getting off the job. “So they might have it at a different time the next time.”
The same is true of most newspapers. At The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, occasional recreational events break up the routine of meeting deadlines and working long hours.
According to Mike Kirby, the paper’s managing editor, the entire staff was invited to participate in a ropes challenge at the local YMCA a couple of years ago. Designed to get all of the departments together – editorial, circulation, advertising and production – the day was full of team challenges including climbing a 50-foot tower, jumping from it and grabbing a rope.
“It was a good way for people to get to know each other,” Kirby said. “We got the day out of work.”
About half of the editorial staff went, he said. The company also takes the staff on a harbor cruise out of Warren, usually every year, although this year it was canceled due to budget constraints.
“It’s just a social gathering,” Kirby said of the cruises. Because of the paper’s schedule (it’s an afternoon paper), most of the events are planned for Sundays during the summer, when things are slower.
“There aren’t too many on the staff on Sunday,” so mornings and evenings are best. The editorial department uses alternating shifts, so it’s not always the same few people working on Sundays.
“We do informal things” too, he added. There are company softball and charity events and the editorial staff often gets together to play a game of basketball after deadline or goes out for a few drinks after work. There is also usually a company potluck holiday dinner.
“The morale here is pretty good and I’ll tell you why – we haven’t had anyone leave the department for three years,” Kirby said. The company tries to be flexible, he said, and that helps.
Some professions just don’t lend themselves to flexible schedules, but those people who work within them seem to have accepted it as part of the job.
“Not everybody can get time off,” Horoho said.
