Employee Engagement

We all want to be giants, whether it be standing tall over our personal responsibilities, our work tasks, or – if you're a small business owner or leader – expenses and the competition.

Well, when it comes to employee engagement, retention, and motivation, you can learn from – and benchmark yourself physically – against the best: 2007 Top Small Workplace Gentle Giant Moving Company. As this press release explains, the Massachusetts-based moving company is taking its Speedstairs recruiting challenge on the road.

Here's some background on the program according to the release:

The company has conducted recruiting events at its Somerville, Mass. headquarters utilizing the Gentle Giant Challenge, and has brought the Speedstairs to area community events where the public can use it for fun while meeting Gentle Giant employees and getting a glimpse into the life of a mover. For those who want to test themselves or pursue a job with the company, the Gentle Giant Challenge consists of a timed series of trips up and down the Speedstairs. Gentle Giant routinely assess whether a candidate has the physical capability to handle the job of mover. Also, new hires in the Greater metro Boston area traditionally "run the stadium" as a rite of passage, in which founder and CEO Larry O'Toole leads new recruits on a timed climb up and down the 37 sections of stands at Harvard Stadium. The Gentle Giant Challenge combines the assessment of ability with the symbolism of the stadium runs.

Gentle Giant also has a dedicated page on their website with a video of the challenge in action, an "upcoming events" page (which currently shows one on June 20 in Framingham, MA, though there will undoubtedly be more cities added soon), and a top 20 results page (note the presence of CEO Larry O'Toole; this is one CEO who has "walked the talk" when it comes to their business).

Why not contact Gentle Giant and ask them to come to your town? While you're working up a sweat you can pick their brain on their workplace team building best practices.

Photo courtesy Gentle Giant