Band, races seen helping boost morale of employees

IMAGE COURTESY HASBRO
HIGH NOTE: Hasbro’s Toys2Men band is, left to right, Tom Sargent, Dan Sanfilippo, Corey Martineau, Barry Farrands and James D’Aloisio.
IMAGE COURTESY HASBRO HIGH NOTE: Hasbro’s Toys2Men band is, left to right, Tom Sargent, Dan Sanfilippo, Corey Martineau, Barry Farrands and James D’Aloisio.

It’s a corporate outing with a good beat for a team of five Hasbro Inc. employees.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland may be a bit of an unusual destination for an employee team from Pawtucket-based Hasbro, the multinational toy and game company.
The team is, more specifically, a band named Toys2Men that’s competing for the title of Best Corporate Band in America on Sept. 28.
“Creativity and innovation are the lifeblood of this company,” said Hasbro Chief Human Resources Officer Dolph Johnson. “Our company is a strong proponent of showcasing the creativity of the organization and our employees.”
The band competition is more than a one-day event with five Hasbro musicians. It’s the kind of offsite corporate outing, along with activities like employees from Collette Vacations in Pawtucket paddling in dragon-boat races or any corporate group in a 5K walk/run fundraiser, that can help boost employee morale, according to Tony Saccone, managing partner of Providence-based Leadership Development Worldwide, which does executive assessment, coaching and team development for organizations.
“Offsite corporate outings contribute to a sense of cohesion with the group, for the employees who are participating and those who may not be participating,” said Saccone.
“Often these are community-facing activities and it gives a sense of corporate pride,” said Saccone. “Everybody benefits from the fact that the business’ name and logo are out there running in the 5K. It creates internal cohesion.”
In times of tight corporate budgets, offsite outings often have little or no cost and can add value beyond the daily work, said Saccone.
“Senior leadership often supports these kinds of activities because it adds something into the mix besides productivity and pure profit,” said Saccone. “I think the management group can get some of the same things that add to employee fulfillment – a little bit of fun in the environment and pride. “Management is also looking to inject intangible rewards into the system, things that don’t have to show up in a salary, in a time when companies have to do more with less,” he said.
Hasbro is fully behind Toys2Men, providing quality practice space, after work hours, in studios used for company TV commercials, giving the five band members travel time to arrive for the Saturday, Sept. 28 competition in Cleveland, funding their travel expenses and allowing a bit of company time to build enthusiasm.
The band earned a spot in the national competition by winning a regional contest in Hoboken, N.J. and since then, the energy surrounding the Cleveland event has been building.
“We had a short practice at work one day at 3 o’clock and about 100 people came,” said Dan Sanfilippo, a game-design manager who’s been with Hasbro for 13 years and plays keyboards and sings in Toys2Men. “We wanted to get their feedback on which songs are best.”
Like most projects that bring co-workers together outside of their jobs, Toys2Men is a group with varied skills and longevity within the company.
In addition to Sanfilippo, the band is made up of Barry Farrands on drums, an electrician at Hasbro for 20 years; Corey Martineau on lead vocals, a studio photographer who’s been with the company for six years; Tom Sargent on bass, an associate producer in digital media and marketing who’s been with the company for three years; and James D’Aloisio on guitar and vocals, an associate game designer who joined Hasbro nine months ago.
Along with company pride and team-building, the band symbolizes another important benefit of offsite outings – getting to know co-workers as individuals and the many aspects of their lives, according to independent career counselor Leslie Long of Providence.
“It’s especially good if you bring people together out of the interest of some of the employees,” said Long. “People can become closer and know what other people’s passions are and support them as a whole person.” Tight corporate budgets, videoconferencing and office cubicles that come with the times can discourage relationships and activities that boost employee morale, said Long.
“We’ve implemented a lot of changes that have taken us away from understanding each other,” said Long, who is a licensed mental-health counselor.
Toys2Men had its start in a previous employee project that had a lot to do with understanding the trials life sometimes throws at people and the support that can arise from co-workers.
“We trace it back to the Hasbro all-star concert for one of our co-workers who had ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease,” said Sanfilippo. “We have a ton of musicians and creative talent outside of what we do for work.”
That fundraiser for the employee and his wife, who also worked for Hasbro, and the couple’s three children spilled over into fundraising for an ALS organization.
The chance to use his talents in many ways makes Sanfilippo regard Hasbro as a great place to work.
Other opportunities for off-site outings, such as paddling in the Sept. 8 dragon-boat races on the Blackstone River during the Pawtucket Arts Festival, generate enthusiasm from workers, including at Pawtucket-based Collette Vacations.
“Being in a large company, we don’t all see each other that often,” said Collette Vacations Project Specialist Cassie Stetkiewicz, who was captain of the 23-member dragon-boat team. “We really got to know each other and we had a lot of support in the company.
“We would send out photos of our practices and information on the race and we had quite a few people turn out to root us on,” said Stetkiewicz. “And even if they didn’t get to the race, everyone asked us about it on Monday. We had great conversations. Everyone was so excited about it.” •

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