Moving to New Building, need ideas

jbanda

We are a manufacturing company and we have been in the same old building for 12 years, we are constructing our brand new facility which we are planning to move in January, we are very excited about the new bulding and will like to get all my employees excited as well. I have never done a thing like this in my short HR career, any ideas or suggestions?, we want to boost morale and make this exciting for everyone, we are thingking bout giving family tours and maybe giving gift baskets to all employees, any more ideas or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

TN HR

If the new facility is relatively close in distance, you could maybe plan a Volksmarch followed by some festivities at the new plant.

You may think about having a tangible theme for this event, like safety. Perhaps invite local EMS personnel to do some workshops and have vehicle/equipment displays for the kiddies.

This sounds like an exciting time for your company and you should make this a memorable event for all.

Gene

DeidreFR5

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-18-03 AT 08:48AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I would make sure there were constant updates (at least weekly) as to how the move was going. And let everyone know if there are snags - anyone who has ever moved into a new home knows it never goes as planned. Maybe a 50 days or 30 days and counting kick off with plastic hard hats for everyone. Or get appropriate stress relief toys (the little hand sponge ones) and make up a cute little memo with them - "we know moving will cause a little stress - we hope this helps". During the tour have people with digital cameras (or instant cameras if they still make them) take pictures of the employee and family - so the employee can have a family picture for their new work area (desk, cubical,locker). I have found a lot of little things sometimes mean more than the one item that gets forgotten. When the actual move comes, make sure there are enough boxes, tape, wrapping paper so people don't fight over it and if possible, have managers offer to assist in packing (or at least be seen interested in packing not having their assistants pack and move the bosses stuff and their own).

ritaanz

Our company built a new building next door to the old one. It was twice the size and well layed out. We took a week to make the move from the old one to the new one. We moved by department. As the telephone lines were connected, the employees moved in. It was great fun to have the people in the old building go visit the ones in the new building.

When everyone was settled in, we had a luncheon to celebrate and thank everyone for their efforts. The last department to relocate was IT. Those employees were awarded a framed certificate for holding the fort down during the turmoil.

Dasher

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-18-03 AT 09:33AM (CST)[/font][br][br]When our building was renovated two years ago, we had to move in different parts of the building (and trailers). One of the more helpful packing hints was to have offices color coded so that items (boxes and such) got back where they belonged. The packing of desks and files was done by the individual offices and using our retention policy, we were able to rid ourselves of a lot of clutter.

If it is possible, give departments a chance to chose wall colors and carpet, even if they can decide between three or more choices. We were able to do this and it really made people feel invested in the new spaces.

I loved the above idea about the stress balls -- because you will be going through a lot. Remain positive and upbeat -- no matter what -- and enjoy your new building.