What It Takes to Become a “Best Place to Work”: Team Building & Recognition

In the previous two installments of this series, we took a look at the importance of a family culture within our organization, and how the practice of empowerment has played a large role in increasing employee satisfaction throughout the organization. Today, we’re going to delve into the final part of this series, team building and recognition.

How Motorlease Builds Cohesive Teams

The concept of “team building” often carries a negative connotation among employees. The thought alone can elicit cringe-worthy flashbacks to scenes from “The Office”. However, when done correctly, team building can have some incredibly positive results. Experts say that proper team building can build trust, improve communication, boost team work, improve conflict resolution, and reveal hidden skills. So how does Motorlease tackle this subject?

“We try to make our team building events not only fun, but unique as well,” said Beth Kandrysawtz, CEO. “While we have some yearly staples like the holiday office decoration contest, we try to get creative with others. Some past events have included pumpkin bocci, scarecrow decorating, luaus, scavenger hunts, bowling, community volunteer work, and more. Employees really get into the events, and from a managerial standpoint, we can see the cohesiveness that we’re aiming for form in real time.”

By implementing fun, and engaging team building events, employees will be more willing to engage and participate, providing you with a better chance at the activities achieving their intended goals.

Employee Recognition at Motorlease

Employee recognition doesn’t have to be an extravagant event. For example, an easy way that Motorlease recognizes employees is by giving shout outs in our monthly company-wide meetings. Throughout the month, employees are encouraged to take note of any coworker seen going above and beyond in their job, and a relay their observations during the meeting. It’s simple, but recognizes employees in front of their colleagues for a job well done.

However, we also like to recognize the contributions that each and every employee makes on a daily basis. To accomplish that, we do something a little more elaborate. For many employees, the annual Employee Appreciation Day event is the highlight of the year. It’s a day filled with fun, food, and prizes. In addition to catered breakfast, lunch, and deserts, the company brings in a plethora of entertainment for employees to enjoy. Things such as arcade games, magicians, palm readers, masseurs, caricature artists, inflatable bounce houses, art trucks, and plenty more have all graced our office. The day concludes with a raffle for an array of prizes all provided by the company. “Employee Appreciation Day is an awesome time,” said Ryan Fitzgerald, Sales Operations Manager. “I’ve never worked for a company that goes to such lengths to make sure that their employees know how much they’re appreciated. The entire day is a lot of fun.” While this is something that has worked for us, you’ll likely want to take the idea of employee appreciation and make it your own. However you elect to show it, recognizing your employees is a great way to make your company a place where people enjoy coming to work on a daily basis.

Throughout this series, we attempted to highlight some of the things that have helped our organization achieve success over the past 72 years. While we don’t profess to have all of the answers, we hope that some of the ideas presented can help your organization become recognized as a “Best Place to Work”