Don’t be a llama! Playing sport is all karma, no drama!

Team spirit won through – even though the Sports Day we know and love was benched

Imagine corporate Oscars…that’s the Sports Day for Henkel Slovensko employees. Only the red carpet is missing 🙂 Every June one of the two largest company-wide events united almost 1,700 enthusiastic employees to celebrate company values, promote team spirit and have a great time! An annual celebration of adrenaline-pumping, competitions, celebrity moderators, fantastic food, and free drinks. But then came the shark in the water…COVID-19…

But we’ve battled through and shown our employees that corona won’t break us. By standing together we can help each other, as well as the senior citizens most impacted by the pandemic – and who Henkel Slovakia has been supporting for years through its CSR strategy. We shall overcome!

Can team spirit be promoted remotely…?

Can a sports day be organised despite the strict lockdown and ban on gatherings? They who dare, win! So we seized the challenge to prepare Plan B – to promote team spirit even among employees who’ve had quite enough of home working, virtual meetings, and Netflix.

The original Sports Day was shelved and instead employees were invited to join a worthy cause. Henkel Slovakia donated the funds earmarked for the Sports Day to seniors instead. This elderly community has been particularly impacted by the pandemic, and had already been long supported by the company’s CSR.

At times of flux, seek the familiar

Introducing our llama friend The llama character was the internal campaign 6 months ago. This karma charmer helped us mobilize employees and their families to vote for Henkel Slovakia in the Most Attractive Employer poll. As the cuddly llama is a popular company mascot, we introduced it so bring a sense of certainty and happiness amidst the pandemic’s bad news.

Communications were driven through three super-motivational videos with a llama sportswoman. She playfully showcased the new event with funny rhymes and the familiar phrase “Don’t be a llama!”

Your time put to good use

Henkel Slovensko gave employees a free half day to unplug their computers and unwind themselves. There were so many great activities to choose from: running, cycling, yoga, and even plogging. Plogging?! Well it’s a Swedish initiative that combines jogging in nature with collecting rubbish – so good for you and the environment. Our in-house competition for the best photo/video challenged employees to work together creatively as a team, despite not physically meeting and practising together.

ZWe donated EUR 10 for every photo or video entry received. So employees were super-motivated to go the extra mile, enjoy the activities, and keep us in the picture.

We brought employees together despite the COVID-19 measures. Playing safe yet still playing as a team!By motivating employees to act, the targeted goal was achieved and everyone felt good about making a meaningful contribution.