What’s next for employee engagement? Trading cards? You betcha!
A defense contracting company found a new way to engage its employees: employee trading cards. For the past two years, CSA employees have been receiving packs of trading cards that bear the faces of their colleagues. This program puts a twist on traditional employee engagement and demonstrates the incredible growth the company has had over the years.
CSA (Client Solution Architects LLC), a defense contracting company, internally released more than 70,000 employee trading cards. The initiative broke ground last year and was inspired by CEO Brian Lebeau’s lifelong enthusiasm for collecting and trading sports cards. Brian’s inspiring initiative not only brings a new fun and exciting way for employees to engage with one another, but the trading cards are also a physical manifestation of CSA’s incredible growth as a company.
Last year, nearly 3,000 packs were mixed and distributed at random, and this year CSA will distribute almost 1,300 packs to its employees. Each trading card showcases one of the company’s 325 eligible employees with a professional portrait on the front and an employee’s “stats” on the back. The cards are a great way for employees to get to know one another on a professional and personal level. Not only do the cards allow CSAers to put a name to a face, but the cards reveal small tidbits of information such as an employee’s hometown, years at CSA, greatest accomplishment, professional skills and much more. The accomplishments section deemed to be the most interesting with professional entries such as “Obtaining my MBA as a single parent” or “Flying two U.S. presidents while assigned to a Helicopter Squadron,” to more light hearted entries such as “Being a good human being.”
So, how do the trading cards work? An employee’s level dictates how many of their cards are printed. For non-leadership, 200 cards of each person are printed while only 25 cards of each executive and 50 of each director are printed. The printed cards are then randomly mixed and packaged into packs of 15 cards. The packs are then given to CSAers at a trading card launch party, and then the fun begins. When employees open their packs they are not only looking to find their face on a trading card, but are also hoping there is a metallic bordered card among them. These “specialty cards” are worth instant cash! Specialty cards have CSA executives in some type of themed costume. Last year the theme was Willy Wonka and this year it’s the Avengers. For those that aren’t lucky enough to unwrap a golden ticket, can try their luck at collecting a completed companywide set for a cash prize. To keep it new and fresh, this year CSA added a new subseries showcasing its CSA military veterans. CSA proudly employs veterans, and these cards are a way to both honor vets and express the company’s deep gratitude for their service.
CSA continually explores new ways of engaging employees, and the company’s trading card initiative is just one of the many exciting things it does for its employees. Follow CSA on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on CSA happenings--@clientsolutionarchitects.
About CSA
CSA believes we have a corporate social responsibility to do the right thing for our employees, clients and citizens. We achieve this by leveraging long-term approaches to maximize productivity and transform how clients utilize people, technology, information and knowledge in unprecedented ways. Our strategic and operational solutions and technologies propel our public-sector clients to deliver exceptional services and capabilities to those they serve. We help our clients Do Great Things.