KCADC investor company, BHC, brought employees back to work in style, complete with food trucks, games and movie night. We asked Laci Budd, Marketing Coordinator, to fill us in on the company's back-to-office "reteaming" events.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot has changed. What didn’t change was our resiliency as a company and our dedication to our employees and customers.
As our region and company looked towards moving beyond the pandemic, we began preparations for returning our staff to the office. BHC leadership, human resources and marketing teams carefully deliberated the possibilities for new policies. Considerations and research from the CDC and industry organizations such as SHRM, Zweig Engagement Group and others provided a base map for new policies. An employee survey was also conducted to get a better understanding of what concerns were looming, what needs were to be met and if any of our employee’s circumstances had changed.
Our leadership prioritized adopting the best practices that allowed all employees to be their best, allowed BHC to be the best customer service provider for our customers and to be the best company in terms of talent and business competition. As 2021 continued to unfold and vaccinations became more available, BHC felt that the timing was favorable to begin our reintegration back to in-office working.
In May, BHC’s President Kevin Honomichl announced via an all company Zoom meeting the plans to return to the office and new remote working policy. The reteaming plan outlined a mandatory, four week plan beginning July 6, along with a new remote work policy to begin on August 2 for eligible employees. The weeks between the formal announcement and July 6 gave employees sufficient time to make arrangements and prepare for in-office work like dependent or pet care, transportation, and/or vaccinations.
While we had a sizable portion of our staff working in-person for most of the pandemic, we knew we needed to refresh the social fabric that is fundamental to our BHC culture. Our HR and marketing teams created a “Back To The Future” themed program of activities to focus on rebuilding engagement and connection between co-workers. With the help of our President and a few aspiring BHC actors, we created a “Back To BHC” welcome video that outlined our reteaming activities.
The entire month of July was filled with daily activities. Our team enjoyed catered meals from Burnt Ends Barbeque, Kolache Factory, Grandma’s Catering, Lamar’s Donuts (twice!), Gus’ Fried Chicken, Chick-Fil-A, Taylor Made Catering and Minsky’s Pizza. For some afternoon fun, we had beer tastings from local brew houses; Limitless Brewery and Transport Brewery. We didn’t forget dessert – Betty Rae’s Ice Cream Truck made a special stop by the office, too.
When we weren’t enjoying a taste of Kansas City, our Blu Crew hosted six days of Office Olympics events. The competitions included rubber band archery, balloon shot put, paper ball golf, Nerf gun shooting, paper towel javelin and chair races. Scores were recorded during each event and the team with the most points at the end of the events won the gold.
Our interns took advantage of the reteaming events with a charity fundraiser. Teams were formed with our service groups and administration to compete in BHC Family Feud. Over $1,900 was raised and will be donated to the winning team’s local charity of choice, Girls on the Run.
Our bi-monthly, all company meeting fell on July 15, which was an excellent opportunity to welcome the whole company back. HR presented general company updates, along with a few new programs for 2021. BHC launched two internal committees for employees to join. The Environmental Sustainability Initiative began in 2020 and was relaunched in 2021 to improve our corporate sustainability practices. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee was formed this year to address barriers in the workplace and to be a voice for all employees.
The reteaming period ended with a Back to BHC finale. It was important to create an event that was family-friendly and safe to enjoy. Employees and their families were invited to a movie night out for a private showing of the culture-classic, “Back To The Future.”
Overall, we feel that the reteaming period was a success. We had great participation from all of our employees and that made all of the planning worthwhile.
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