Q: Over the past year, what extra actions have you taken to strengthen your company’s culture and keep employees engaged, motivated and happy at work?

Ryan Small, President & CEO, Blue Dog Merch

“Keeping morale up and keeping employees engaged and happy during a pandemic was tricky so safety, recognition and appreciation were our most important goals. We added multiple sanitizing stations, partitions and zones to help everyone feel comfortable while working together and we added a work-from-home option for those who preferred to stay at home. We provided boxed lunches from local restaurants and let everyone enjoy them together but at a social distance. We held meetings and discussed how we planned to navigate our business every step of the way and encouraged employee questions and feedback. During meetings, management also took extra time to recognize accomplishments. We also provided bonuses to our team for their hard work. Our strength is in our people and we’ve got a really great team that can work through anything!”