Q: Over the past year, what extra actions have you taken to strengthen your company’s culture and keep employees engaged, motivated and happy at work?

Peter Kmech, MAS, President, Creative Promotional Marketing Agency

“Our team found a way to keep our staff engaged and connected during COVID by setting up a virtual cooking event called CREATIVE Cooking & Cocktails (from the safety of home). An associate and I selected a recipe and a date for our team to meet virtually from their kitchens. We informed them of the ingredients and materials necessary to create the recipe and we also included drinks as a social lubricant. Our event was a hit, so much so that we have decided to do it again, regardless of COVID. The end-result was also incredibly delicious too. There was a saying about COVID-19: You either gained 19 pounds or lost 19 pounds. We, as a CREATIVE team, managed to (overall) lose 19 pounds but more importantly, we kept morale high by pushing each other to stay physically and mentally fit/healthy during a difficult and stressful time. We did this by creating a CREATIVE Fitness Challenge that had the flexibility to manage diverse fitness levels. And we used promotional products as rewards for monthly goals. Starting in February 2021, we set flexible criteria and built upon those criteria to make it more challenging by adding new exercises. In our lunchroom, we kept track of all progress and successful completions. This was so beneficial that we are still running this challenge.”