• by Cori Ferman , August 30, 2013

An August 2013 Gallup Work and Education Survey shows that Americans, despite the sometimes-questionable facial expressions after 5 pm, are passionate about work. In fact, this passion is so strong that ~70% of American workers say they would continue working even if they won $10 million in the lottery. (Nope, April Fool’s Day is the joking holiday.)

And America is equally passionate about the laboring; History (.com) shows Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1894.  

Thus, this means, there is a lot of celebrating to take place over the holiday weekend. And it means brands must continue to ensure the health and happiness of the 155.7 million laborers so they can continue celebrating for years to come. 

Here are some ideas to consider for your laborers:

Optimize your mobile brand experience 

Mobile is the way of the future, according to comScore’s Mobile Future in Focus 2013 Report, for the 125 million smartphone consumers in America. As many of said consumers work for or are fans of your brand, consider a responsive site and/or intranet that functions the same way across devices. This way, there is easy access to health/insurance/benefits information right when it’s needed… often at times when there is no desktop or laptop around to use.  

Develop entertaining and useful apps 

ComScore’s U.S. Digital Future in Focus 2013 Report shows that the majority of mobile content access is through apps. Thus, if your internal systems and policies allow for it, consider developing or utilizing the power of crowdsourcing and encourage your laborers to develop apps that improve productivity and sanity at the office. Chicago’s Open City Program hosts a weekly event called “Open Gov Hack Night” for city residents (uniquely skilled or just curious) to work with open data released by governments. And Boston Children’s offers “The Fast Track Innovation in Technology” award to encourage employees to submit ideas to improve the hospital experience that could potentially become a part of the hospital’s workflow.

Foster a culture of community and teamwork

Mashable’s 7 Tips for Creating a Social Workplace revealed that fostering a culture of community and teamwork may be able to thwart employee dissatisfaction and improve personal and professional morale and offered up tips on how to do so. And IBM’s Institute for Business Value Report supports the collaborative culture and share more on how dynamic, connected and collaborative companies can differentiate themselves and outperform competitors.