We all love stories about company traditions that set them apart and make them interesting. Below are 14 interesting traditions to get your creative juices flowing. Be sure to consider not only the enjoyable nature, but also how these traditions promote specific company values.
1. The last employee hired is responsible for creating a welcome package for the next employee hired. - Software Lead Weekly
2. After a trip, employees bring in exotic foods for everyone. This is called a vacation tax. - Quora
3. Every Friday a bunch of food trucks are paid to show up outside and serve free food to the employees. Since lines get long, there are games for people to play while they wait. As a bonus, winning a game gets you to the front of the line. - LinkedIn
4. The monthly software rollout is commemorated with a custom t-shirt. These shirts show tenure and are treated as collectables. - Palantir
5. Too keep the frugal, grassroots feel, desks are still made out of doors despite the higher cost. - Amazon
6. After working on a team for about a year, employees are encouraged to give other teams a 1-month try after which they have the option to stay or return to their former team. - Facebook
7. When something great happens, employees ring a large iron bell in the kitchen. Then they send an email to the company explaining the win. Ringing the bell without good reason means you bring breakfast for the whole company. - Expertcity (creator of GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting)
8. Employees submit their business ideas and 10 are picked to present to the CEO, Founder and Senior VP. The top three get funding. - LinkedIn
9. Employees riddles on their desks telling them to go to the airport on a certain day at a certain time. The company surprised them with a trip to Germany. - THEY
10. Founders take new hires on tours of the apartment where they started the company and explain how it went down. - Airbnb
11. Because of their casual dress code, Fridays are dress up days and employees wear their nicest business attire. - Technori
12. No limit on vacation time as long as you can get your work done. - Netflix
13. New hires are offered $2000 to quit before they even get started. - Zappos
14. Employees are given 20% of their time to work on whatever interests them. - Google Culture is about consistent behavior. Having a great tradition cannot fix a broken culture, but it can make for even happier employees and a really good story.
Photo Credit: Bosc d'Anjou
