Twin Cities employers turn on the fun to counter 'resignation tsunami'

Radisson Hotel Group believes that adding playtime to the workday can lead to big pay offs.

This summer, Radisson Blu Hotel employees dined on gourmet steak and roasted zucchini as they cheered on their favorite Radisson chefs duking it out at a "Chopped"-like food competition at the Mall of America.

Weeks later, Radisson workers hopped on bikes to pedal alongside a world-class biker seeking to set a Guinness World Record for riding a solar powered bike across America.

"It is about team building and engagement and building team spirit and company culture," said Nicolas Tiziou, Radisson America's director of responsible business.

The unusual corporate-led antics exemplify the lengths some employers are willing to go to battle worker isolation during COVID and to retain employees who maybe tempted to join the "great resignation" now sweeping the nation.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July alone, leading to a record 10.9 million job vacancies nationwide. Another 4.3 million quit in August. The quit rate is the highest since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the numbers in 2001.

Minnesota employers reported 127,314 job vacancies, the fourth highest in two decades, according to state data. The hardest hit sectors are in sales, health care, technology and food preparation jobs.

"Companies are trying to step up a bit," said John Dooney of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). "There is a need and an excitement for interacting in any way we can."

In a recent survey, SHRM found that 40% of U.S. workers were actively looking for a new job. Nearly half of executives reported "much higher turnover than usual" in the past six months. Almost nine in 10 job openings have gone unfilled for longer periods than before the pandemic.

With rising pressure to retain workers and keep them happy, many companies have adopted unusual and creative ways to help employees goof off, laugh and feel appreciated.

Some managers now conduct "stay interviews" to learn what excites workers enough to make them want to stick around long after the pandemic fades.

Some send workers snack boxes, conduct murder mystery puzzle challenges or arrange virtual happy hours with liquor deliveries so team members can reconnect, SHRM's Dooney said.

In Duluth, Bent Paddle Brewing Co. closed its brewery in late September to take its entire 40-member staff to the beach on Lake Superior for a staff appreciation day.

At Land O'Lakes, Chief Technology Officer Teddy Bekele dedicated part of his weekly staff Zoom meeting to a Lego Masters Challenge for employees and their home-bound kids.

The "show and tell" idea hatched after Bekele's youngest son kept crashing staff meetings to march his latest Lego creation across the computer screen, as his dad tried to shoo him away.

The Lego competitions became a hit with employees at the Arden Hills-based agricultural cooperative, Bekele said. They lasted until schools re-opened in September and many children returned to class.

"It became one of my favorite meetings of the week," Bekele said. "I really looked forward to this time."

Jazzing up work events doesn't have to cost much, but it can offer big dividends.

Recent studies by Gallup Inc. and AON found companies with "highly engaged" staffers were 17% more productive, 21% more profitable and 41% less likely to have problems with absenteeism than firms that didn't try to make the workplace more appealing and fun.

"Generally highly engaged employees tend to stay, and so companies have lower turnover," Dooney said. "What we know is that they [such engagement efforts] are very helpful during the recruitment process."

The Minneapolis marketing firm One10 creates elaborate employee recognition programs for some of America's biggest corporations. Budgets can range from $2,000 to $12,000 per employee and often involve sending workers to resorts like Disney World.

But COVID lockdowns and travel restrictions forced One10 to get creative.

For one client, the marketing company created a virtual late night comedy show with a comedian, music, employee skits and stand-up routines.

Over the past 18 months, One10 also has arranged virtual mixology classes, golf lessons, charcuterie board design competitions and trivia contests with elaborate gift kits.

"Humor, during a time of darkness and isolation, was an escape," said Samantha Decker, One10's marketing director.

For Radisson Hotel Group Americas, the idea for an employee-supported bike ride and chef competition began as marketing and training exercises, but evolved into a worker engagement strategy.

The hospitality industry was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, especially among low-wage workers, and the labor shortage remains acute.

Radisson's leaders realized that efforts to get employees together for zany activities not only helped energize the workforce but established an exciting company culture that also reached customers.

"It's a fantastic message to our team members and our customers as well," Tiziou said.

Radisson Hotel Group America's CEO Jim Alderman joined in as a judge at this summer's Radisson Blu chef competition. Alderman also is moving Radisson's longtime and multi-floor headquarters from Minnetonka to the newly built 10 West End building in St. Louis Park.

There, his 225 workers will be on just one floor instead of three when they return to the office on a hybrid basis in the spring of 2022.

"This was about convenience and getting everybody on one floor," Alderman said. "To me that was very important."

That intense focus on employees is made sharper by competition in a tight labor market.

"There is so much talent in this area," Alderman said.

"There are so many thriving businesses that if we are not flexible," as well as and fun and welcoming, he said, "I don't know that we will get the people we need. And we are absolutely looking to add people."

When biker Sushil Reddy, founder of the Sun Pedal Ride in India, asked Minnetonka-based Radisson to sponsor his 6,000-mile solar-powered trek across America, the hotel chain saw a great marketing opportunity.

Reddy will sleep at 55 Radisson hotels during his three-month journey, and Radisson workers have a chance to get in on the fun.

When Reddy started his journey in September, Radisson employees trekked with him from the Mall of America in Bloomington to Radisson's Minnetonka headquarters amid a fanfare of ribbons, balloons and applause.

At each hotel stop, workers now ride alongside Reddy and his tricked-out e-bike in their Radisson logo biker shirts. Employees hold events to donate bikes to local charities and conduct bike safety checks.

"We are very social and an interactive industry," Radisson Chief Human Resources Officer Michael Fischer said of the effort to engage workers. "A lot of us missed that personal connection. While remote work has certainly had advantages, people are mentally fatigued by the isolation."

A crazy event like the solar-powered bike ride-along fights that isolation, he said.