Kim's Blog

Company Culture: Service Projects

Though the thought of company culture tends to focus on internal projects and events, I feel that to truly showcase your business and its people, you need to turn outward as well. We love White Space Day and the You Rock Awards, but the focus can’t always be about ourselves. That’s why Shakespeare Squared makes service projects a priority year-round

Even in these tough economic times, we must remember that while our problems are troubling, there are many who suffer every day from even greater woes. This dedication to others, in thick and thin, helps us here at Shakespeare Squared stay grounded and true to what we value. With devoted attention to our service projects, we maintain a positive company culture by giving back in the simplest of ways.

At the office, we try to have at least one service project running at all times, which usually equates to one service project per month in between our busy schedules. These projects are inexpensive and simple, bettering our company through valuable means of philanthropy. Many times we ask our team to bring a cause forward so we can “feed” everyone’s passions and charities. Currently we are running a clothing drive, but in the past we’ve had all kinds of projects, from canned food drives to playing Santa for a needy family at Christmas. With no pressure for employees to contribute, it’s a ‘help as you can’ kind of mentality, with big and small donations from many of our employees. And it’s not just about bringing something in and forgetting about it. When we brought in items for care packages for soldiers overseas, for example, we also set up our conference room for an hour that day for employees to make cards and write letters of thanks. Employees got the chance to take a break from their work, be creative with coworkers, and give back to their community.

Though we’ve certainly felt the economic pressures, we continue to count our blessings. We want to spread our good fortune and help others who don’t have that benefit, especially now. Service projects are a great way to remember others and the struggles going on all around us as well as to take your employees out of their busy business modes. With the reminder of a children’s shelter box sitting right by your office door, your employees can think beyond their daily work and more into helping others who are struggling. Take the time to implement simple service projects in your office and see what kind of success you can spread.