Stressed staff need time out

Even though the economy may be down, many businesses still think it pays to reward often stressed, overworked employees by coordinating outings and events.
At H&R Block, where the tax season is winding down, so are their employees.
“We usually wind down in late August and let everybody take a breather,” said Donna Cahill, district operations coordinator for H&R Block in Providence and parts of Connecticut.
“I don’t know if I would call it stressful,” she said. “I would say it is busy. “
H&R Block employees hit the ground at the start of tax season after spending much of the time before learning to take on all types of tax circumstances that could come their way.
“The corporate outings only help to show our employees they are appreciated for the extra effort they give to our clients in such a small window of time each year,” Cahill said. “April 15 arrives quickly.”
That doesn’t mean that the nearly 600 employees she oversees get additional vacation breaks. Instead, H&R Block is following the trend of many businesses across the country by taking their employees on stress-relieving outings, whether for a few hours, a day or more.
Soon Cahill and her employees will decide what they’re going to do this season. They usually host two events a year.
Last year, they invited the Providence employees and their families to Lincoln Woods Park.
“We had a barbecue, hot dogs and hamburgers,” she said.” It was like a retreat. There’s a big, beautiful lake and big trees. It’s like a protected area.”
But it wasn’t all fun and games, they also discussed business, Cahill said.
“We discussed goals and how the season went and what we might want to change, but that was only about 15 minutes out of the whole day,” she said.
For some small businesses, big-ticket outings are not in the budget. However, they still find some ways to help their employees take an emotional break.
At Providence’s Cardinal Communications, large outings are obsolete, but the telecommunications and data-networking company still manages to reward its five employees without spending a ton of money.
“One way we reward them is to take them out to dinner,” said Daniel G. Marso, president.
“We do holiday dinners, birthdays and milestones like 2,000 years [of service] with us,” he joked.
The employees understand the economic situation, he said of his 13-year-old company. Sara Pontarelli, Providence branch manager for Robert Half International, a staffing and recruiting team that often tracks workplace trends, said businesses recognize the benefits of giving employees some relief.
“In a time when a lot of employees are working long hours or taking on additional responsibilities, getting out of the office for an off-site meeting or a company outing can be a breath of fresh air and a real stress reliever,” she said.
A lot of that has to do with the economic downturn, Pontarelli said.
The trend has been more companies having meetings off-site and celebrating small successes with incentives, she said.
“Companies are creating more casual atmospheres rather than being in a conference room staring at a PowerPoint presentation.” Pontarelli said.
Those events often include charitable outings and events. Even at Robert Half International the company is holding a bowl-a-thon to help support National Junior Achievement. It’s the fifth year the company has held the event, she said.
Robert Half International, based in Menlo Park, Calif., has 9,900 employees in worldwide offices, said Stephanie Powell, a spokeswoman for the company.
The economic downturn doesn’t mean every company has to resort to cake in a conference room. At Royal Caribbean International, based in Miami, the cruise line has facilitated corporate outings for years, says Harry Liu, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean.
“This is actually perhaps a great value for corporate meetings,” he said. “They only pay for the employees’ staterooms. They get three meals a day and activities like rock-climbing walls and shows at night.”
All 22 cruise ships are equipped with conference space and meeting technology. Lori Cassidy, director of corporate meetings, incentives and charter sales for Royal Caribbean, says despite the recent recession, the cruise company has seen an increase in bookings by companies for meetings.
Part of that has to do with the affordability, she said. A company can book a room for $80 a night and have a three-day conference cruise that only cost $240 per person, with all food and entertainment included.
“We have had meetings and conferences for [more than] 10 years but I would say that it has really increased over the last three to four years,” Cassidy said. &#8226