According to the New York Times, in May 2005, employers saw a dramatic spike in absenteeism as workers play hooky to see “Star Wars III – Revenge of the Sith,” costing nearly $627 million in lost productivity in the first two days. Since then, the term ‘Wookie Hooky’ has been used to describe the volumes of absences.
Today the staff at Paragon Bridges is playing hooky as well so that everyone can enjoy the latest release of “Star Wars VII – The Force Awakens“.
“Its not as much fun to ditch work when your boss lets you,” said one of Paragon Bridges‘ developers. “But its nice to be somewhere they appreciate us working hard and make it a fun place to be.”
Employee recognition and appreciation is important at Paragon Bridges. “We have been working very hard this year getting our latest release to market,” said General Manger Michelle Moody, “and it only made sense that we take a break and have a little fun.”
Moody continues, “most of us here at Paragon Bridges were raised in the era of Star Wars. I will the first to admit that when I grew up, there wasn’t anything I didn’t eat off of, sleep on, decorate my wall with, or wear that didn’t have a Star Wars logo on it. I am certain that most of us [at Paragon Bridges] can reluctantly admit that we watched the Star Wars Holiday Special live, and liked it. In IT especially is just seems that the Stars Wars experience is more than entertainment, it has become our way of life.”
Over time, the term ‘Wookie Hooky’ has become more than a Star Wars brand. It is commonly used to reference high absenteeism for other, well nerdy, life events as well.
“For example, I’m not a gamer, ” Moody laughs, ” but I can always tell when a new release of World of Warcraft is out because so is half of my staff. And it also explains why I get a lot of late night Monster influenced email responses during the first week of the release.”
Understanding what motivates and rewards your staff is key to being a successful leader. According to a new survey by TINYPulse, the top five things that effect why workers stay:
1. Manager satisfaction
2. Positive colleague relationships
3. Enjoyable culture
4. Providing needed rest and relaxation
5. Professional growth opportunities
We have a great staff and we want Paragon Bridges to be a great place to work. At Paragon Bridges we are a growing cloud-based data migration services and solutions.
Special thanks to Improving Houston for the Stars Wars sneak peek. @ImprovingHou #StarWarsAwakens