September

Self Improvement Month

Have each department challenge their employees to a Self-Improvement Contest.  Consult with each department before launching the contest on what criteria to track and how the contest will be measured.  For instance, the winner may be the person who had the most sales that month, or the person who read the most work-related books.  At the end of the month, award a prize to the most improved person in each department.

Do It! Day

Ask employees what it is they wish they could do at work that would be mutually beneficial to them and to your company.  For instance, you may be surprised to learn that your accountant is a budding artist who would love to help with your next graphic design project.  Or, there may be several parents in the office that would like to work out a flextime schedule with one another, rather than work full-time.

National Grandparents’ Day

  1. Negotiate with a photographer to set up a portrait studio in your office. Arrange for employees with grandchildren to get a complimentary portrait with their grandchild.  If their grandchildren live out of town, invite the grandparent to have their portrait taken (with their significant other if they wish).  They can then send the portrait to their grandchildren.
  2. If you do not wish to have a professional photographer take pictures, consider inviting grandparents to bring in photographs of themselves and their grandchildren. Post these photographs on a Grandparents’ Bragging Board in your office.

Patriot Day – September 11th

  1. Pass out American flag pins to all employees today.
  2. Purchase a large poster-sized picture of the American flag. On the back of the picture, lightly mark one of the stars with an X.  Hang the picture.  On the front of the picture, have each employee write their name in on one of the stars.  Once everyone has written his or her name on a star, turn the picture over.  The employee who signed the secretly marked star wins a prize.  If the secretly marked star is not signed, have the person who signed the closest star to the right of the secretly marked star win.   Leave the picture hanging in the office, highlighting your belief that each employee is a star in your eyes.

National Good Neighbor Day

Neighborhoods host block parties so that everyone on the block can get to know one another better. Why not have a Block Party so that everyone in the company can get to know one another better?  Ask employees to sign up to bring a certain dish to share with everyone else on their “block” (department or floor).  Host a get-to-know-you activity during the Block Party, such as Human Bingo:

  • To play Human Bingo, replace the numbers in the squares on a bingo board with characteristics. For instance, “can sing their college fight song” could be in one square and “has a pet that does not have fur” could be in another.  Pass out a Human Bingo sheet to each person at the Block Party.  The object is for employees to find someone to place their name in a relevant square.  For instance, if someone owned a snake, they could put their name in the “has a pet that does not have fur” square.  Have employees gather a different name in each square on the Human Bingo sheet.  Once they have a signature in each square, they can enter their name in a grand prize drawing.  Before awarding the prize, “verify” the Human Bingo sheet.  Call out the names of some of the people who signed the squares on the winner’s sheet.  Have them “prove” they are relevant.  For instance, the person who signed, “can sing their college fight song” has to get up and sing it!

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