By Susanne Tomlinson
Anyone who finds their career in Association Management can tell you it’s not because they like to be bored! It’s easy in our busy environment to feel like we can’t stop long enough to enjoy our colleagues and participate in extracurricular activities. But what if doing both things help us serve our clients better? Statistics show that creating a fun work environment has a positive impact on employee productivity and engagement. Teams that have fun together also have higher levels of communication, collaboration, and creativity. Parthenon Management Group has found this to be true! In fact, this is the sole focus of one of our internal committees, the Community Outreach & Employee Engagement “Fun” Committee. This committee thrives on promoting fun at work and creating a happy atmosphere to build a positive employee mind-set. The committee is comprised of around fifteen co-workers that all bring fun to the table, in a variety of ways.
Before COVID, we relished in happy hours, potluck events, judged appetizers events, pajama days, workout Wednesdays, spirit days, Fleece Navidad, Holiday bingo, bring your dog to work, cookie bake offs, volunteering, philanthropy, and so much more!
When the pandemic emerged, life as we all knew it ended abruptly. PMG, like many other companies, sent their employees home to work safely. But the fun committee didn’t let the pandemic change our dynamic of togetherness! We kept the spirit alive with virtual events such as a painting class, motivational emails, a get to know me series, ugly sweater contests, staff trivia, teams group conversations on various topics, a virtual holiday cookbook, charitable acts, themed Thursdays, and so much more! We made it a point to stay engaged during these trying times because appreciating each other’s company is important. It was also very inviting to our new staff members that joined PMG while we were all working virtually. We wanted to them to feel at home immediately in our fun work environment.
In early 2021, PMG launched our company “DNA”:
- Fearless – Not afraid to ask a question, learn a new skill or challenge the status quo. A resourceful self-starter. Looks for new opportunities and is willing to push themselves into unfamiliar circumstances to learn.
- Tireless – Endlessly innovative, creative, and adaptive, with a passion for their career and an opportunity to learn something new. Determined and energetic in their approach to help the organization succeed.
- Selfless – Puts the importance and success of the organization or meeting ahead of one’s personal advancement or ideals while being fully transparent, loyal, courteous, and fair to all people they encounter.
As we enter the post-COVID workforce, we are most excited about the activities we have planned for PMG’s upcoming Homecoming Week in August! This will be the first full week that we are all back in our office after a long time working from home. As we enjoy seeing all the familiar faces, there will be the new employees who began during the pandemic to welcome as well. We were excited to implement our new “DNA” in our activities. Here is what the committee has planned:
- Selfless Monday – “Treat Yourself”, dress up in your fanciest attire and bring your best baked good for a bake-off competition
- Tireless Tuesday – Pajama Day & Chair Massages
- Workout Wednesday – Pilates class led by our amazing CEO, Sarah Timm, and a walking group for those not inspired by Pilates
- Thoughtful Thursday – Nashville staff is hosting our out-of-town staff with food and games as we tailgate our ½ day away. There is an additional off-site gathering at Pins Mechanical for those that can join.
- Fearless Friday – Field Day in the Office – dress up as your fearless idol for a variety of games
So here’s to continued fun at PMG!
We are so appreciative to our “Fun” Committee, and especially our committee chairs, Kara Moeller & Ally Jevens for making PMG so fun!
Do you like to have fun, especially while you work? Are you looking for the perfect place to work?
People come first at PMG. That goes for both our clients and our team members. We are known for our exceptional customer service and work ethic. Our clients are like family to us! But our real families are also a priority. From flexible work schedules, including work-from-home plans, paid volunteer days, profit sharing and more, PMG takes great care of its team members.
