PACIFIC FIRST BANK
ON THE MOVE! GAME BOARD

THE CHALLENGE:

Pacific First was in the process of constructing a new centralized processing facility, replacing a bunch of ramshackle offices in Tacoma, Washington. However, the new office would be 25 miles away in tiny Preston and staff would have to undertake an arduous commute along one of the state's state's most deadly highways to get there.

Our challenge was to find a way to educate employees about the benefits of relocating to the new office to maintain retention levels during a lengthy construction process.

THE SOLUTION:

As part of a larger employee education program centering around construction (the Lunch Box Tool Toss is a whole other story) we developed a light hearted travel game that took employees on the road between Tacoma and Preston.

The game came complete with dice, little car playing pieces and rules for playing.

Along the way we highlighted such benefits as subsidized day care, a housing allowance, company vanpools, free parking and a fitness center. The game measured 20" x 30" and was printed in two colors.

Initially, the game board was intended to be a prize for other promotions going on during the construction phase. But then we discovered employees were actually playing the game during their lunch breaks. So we quickly devised a round robin tournament that was very successful.

A secondary support tool was a one page construction update newsletter that provided answers to employee questions and kept staff in the loop of how the new facility was progressing.

THE RESULT:

The goal going in was to retain key back office staff during the transition period and inform them of the project's progress as well as the benefits the new office space would provide employees. Through the use of a light hearted campaign that also educated, we were able to keep retention levels at 97.4% throughout the construction and transition phase.

It was a very different strategy for the more conservative client but one that paid off in terms of keeping a key part of the staff engaged and intact during a potentially explosive move.