Favorite Busy Season Activities
April 10, 2012 1:36 PM
When we polled the LinkedIn Accounting group members about their favorite busy season activities, many chimed in with specifics. Their preferred ways to unwind included everything from food to foot rubs. Here’s a selection of some of our favorites.
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Free Food
Free team lunches and dinners ranked highest on our LinkedIn poll, with food-related incentives like restaurant gift cards and fresh fruit in the office popular options. But our favorite culinary response came from trainee accountant Rebecca Granthan: “An unexpected round of bacon sandwiches at 10am :-).”
Employee Recognition
Awards for employees—whether as “silent heroes” or high performers—are also well-received busy-season motivators. Prizes for these distinctions include spa packages and event tickets.
Performance Perks
Other employee rewards for tax-season performance were more down-and-dirty. Human resources professional Ryan Allen’s firm has a range of perks for its “fish bowl” prizes: “Things like housecleaning, auto detailing, date night on the company, lawn service, and the services of a handyman.”
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Fun and Games
Accountants love their foosball, according to our poll response. Many LinkedIn members mentioned office tournaments as a great morale booster.
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Rest and Relaxation
When the work gets too busy to redeem spa coupons, firms bring relaxation into the office. Group members find chair massages to be effective stress relievers.
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Task Takeover
Sometimes little tasks are the most appreciated. HR professional Ryan Allen commented, “I do a weekly Wal-Mart run where anyone on the staff who needs anything (groceries, gifts, etc.) can give me the list and I'll do the shopping for them since the last thing they want to do during their time not spent at work is go to the grocery store.”
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Animal Therapy
Accounting services manager Roxanne Greene’s firm took advantage of one quiet morning to engage in some monkey business, bringing in The Wildlife Company to do a presentation with exotic animals: “We got to interact with a bunch of animals, including a hedgehog, a tegu, a coatimundi and a capuchin monkey. Afterwards we all sat down to Greek food and talked about our kids, grandkids, and anything but work.”
