Page 33 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

Business on Planet Earth, No Longer as We Know It 13

Jerry’s franchise operators did in Key West, Florida during
one of their annual retreats.

Creating a sense of internal and external community will

build morale and bring people together. As a manager, it’s your
responsibility to be a key player in that effort.

How Best-Run Companies Keep Their

People Pumped Up

Are you looking for examples of how to fire up your people—
regardless of the work they do or where they do it? Here are a

few classic morale-boosting examples of what some companies
and their leaders are doing or have done to set a different pace
and build communities bursting with morale and hope.

Case Study: Kryptonite—Tough on Crime, Gentle on People

Some people might consider working at a company that makes
locks for bicycles, recreational gear, and laptops kind of boring.

Not here. And not under the leadership of Gary Furst, CEO of
Kryptonite, a Boston-area firm.
According to Furst, if your only way of trying to boost morale
is with money, then you can forget it. There’s always going to be
another company out there with a bigger carrot to dangle. So

Kryptonite execs take a more creative approach to keeping
morale high and pumping up their people on a regular basis.
The leaders meet a couple of times a month outside of their
offices to come up with ways to keep employees motivated and
committed to attaining company goals. One of their favorite

strategies includes wearing costumes. Once, for example, Furst
dressed in a kilt and face paint like Scotsman William Wallace
from the Oscar-winning movie Braveheart and, accompanied
by a bagpiper, he passed out bonus checks to his employees.
Kryptonite boasts it is a different kind of place to work and

here are some examples of what sets this company apart:

• The edgy lock-maker describes its people this way:
“Passionate, fanatical, driven, consumed. Perhaps we’re