Every year, Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. marks the end to a grueling tax season with a companywide outing. In 2020, the plan was to celebrate the original April 15 tax deadline with a day of bowling, go-kart racing and games at a venue in Foxboro, Mass.
Then, COVID-19 hit, wiping out any chance of a gathering for the accounting firm’s 250-plus employees across its Rhode Island and Massachusetts offices. That meant no “after busy season” bowling, no summer outing to Newport Vineyards, and even no annual holidays party in December.
All three events have been canceled, according to Christine Scarafoni, KLR’s chief human resources officer. What has not been canceled are efforts to cultivate a culture in which workers feel appreciated and celebrated.
Indeed, the pandemic has made company culture more important than ever, critical to keeping workers happy amid heightened personal and professional stress and, in turn, to allowing businesses to survive and succeed. Many studies link strong company culture to less turnover, higher productivity and more profits, among other benefits.
It’s also increasingly a top priority for workers. In a 2019 study by Glassdoor, more than half of workers surveyed said company culture trumped salary when considering job satisfaction.
But creating an engaging environment for employees when in-person outings are off-limits and many employees are still working remotely has forced companies to get creative.
Envision Technology Advisors LLC has gone through a trial-and-error process to find what works, according to Jeremy Girard, director of marketing. Some ideas proved instant successes: regular Friday “fun days” in which workers can participate in video scavenger hunts and trivia contests. The company also instituted Zoom happy hours and coffee chats, allowing workers to catch up on the kind of informal chitchat that would normally take place in the office.
These remote offerings appear to be working. Participation has been high, even among workers typically reluctant to engage at prior, in-person events.
One less successful event was an attempt to replicate the office’s monthly cake days – celebrating birthdays, work anniversaries and other events – virtually. Envision asked employees to bake their own cakes and gather to celebrate over Zoom.
Participation was low, which Girard chalked up to the greater effort required for workers to shop for ingredients and bake their own cakes.
Scarafoni also highlighted the effectiveness of informal Zoom get-togethers at KLR. A Friday trivia game is much easier to plan and execute than a trip to a vineyard – and costs much less. The visual aspect of video gatherings has also enhanced intimacy, with pets and children in the background offering a better glimpse into one another’s personal lives.
“I feel we’re actually even more connected than we’ve ever been, even though we’re a distributed workforce,” Scarafoni said.
The blurred line between work and home lends itself to a new kind of employee bonding, agreed Kevin-Rene Matta, director of diversity for the Rhode Island Society for Human Resource Management State Chapter. However, Matta, who also serves as director of client engagement and inclusion for Providence-based professional training company AWE LLC – which stands for Advancing Workplace Excellence – cautioned that privacy and safety must continue to guide employer considerations.
A video call may not be inclusive of workers with less technological savvy, for example, or those who don’t want co-workers seeing their homes.
When it comes to in-person gatherings, Matta also urged sensitivity to varying levels of comfort among workers. While KLR had taken its major, in-person outings off the table, Envision was still discussing whether its annual summer outing to Block Island might still be possible as state restrictions are lifted.
A major consideration, according to Girard, was whether the information technology firm’s staff felt safe participating.
Attendance was also a factor for David Currie, president of Province Mortgage Associates Inc., when weighing whether to continue with the mortgage company’s outings. Currie had already postponed the annual golf tournament and company picnic to late summer. Unlike other employers, he was reluctant to replace such events with virtual gatherings, explaining that he didn’t think his workers would be interested in spending even more time on their computers.
“When they are done with work, they just want to unplug and be with their families,” Currie said.
Still, he acknowledged the importance of showing appreciation for employees, particularly when they are working harder than ever. A recent profits-share bonus distributed to workers has helped with at least a short-term morale boost, Currie said.
Looking ahead, Scarafoni was uncertain whether companies generally would be reviving large-scale outings anytime soon, both because of health concerns and also financial caution.
“I think 2021 is going to be a little lighter, and the events not as grand,” she said.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.