Des Moines Corporate Games Cultivates Positive Workplace Culture

For two months in the summer of 2019, Pratum was buzzing a bit more than usual. You could almost feel the electricity in our hallways. Why? We made our debut as participants in the Des Moines Corporate Games.

Pratum is a leading cybersecurity firm, with headquarters in Greater Des Moines (DSM). Employees spend days solving information security challenges, but during many lunch hours you’ll often find many of us at a local gym playing volleyball or basketball. We have a strong focus on integrity and professionalism, while enjoying a fun culture and friendly competition. When we came across the Des Moines Corporate Games, we were sold. We saw an opportunity to participate in a program that aligned perfectly with the spirited drive and sportsmanship of our team, and we couldn’t wait to get started.

“We feel the Des Moines Corporate Games were designed for businesses like ours. We have a close-knit team that loves a challenge, and the Games helped strengthen our relationships while offering a competitive outlet.” – Dave Nelson, Founder and CEO

An Evolving Workplace Culture

The Games inspired us to go outside over lunch and practice for upcoming competitions. We invested our time in learning new games that we hadn’t played before and brushing up on our skills for activities we hadn’t done in a while. We went on runs, we tossed a few bags, went to the driving range, purchased a spike ball set and much more.  We had the best time practicing for the competitions, and the hard work paid off.

“We are generally a pretty active group, and the Games fueled us to be even more active. We spent a lot of our free time together outside practicing for events. It started to become less about practicing for events and more about enjoying each other’s company.” – Megan Howard, Director of Security Services

Whether we’re with clients or on the court, we pride ourselves on rising to a challenge, and the Des Moines Corporate Games was no exception. Pratum entered the games alongside some pretty steep competition. We were one of the smallest companies to participate, having only 20 employees, but we were prepared to bring our fiercest competition. Overall, we placed 7^th out of 16 in our division. That’s not too shabby for being up against companies with headcounts up to 5 times our size.

"Taking home silver in tug of war was great! It's all we could talk about around the office for the next couple days. I think we even surprised ourselves by overcoming some pretty tough competition." – Jon Ollinger, Manager of Security Operations

The Power of Teamwork

Teamwork is a fundamental pillar of Pratum. For small businesses, that is critical. We collaborate with one another daily to maintain our common goal of providing the best possible service for our clients. The games opened another avenue for us to exercise teamwork, and our company participation was huge. 16 out of 20 (80%) of our employees participated, and Pratum was represented at nearly all 25 events. Among participating employees was a remote worker, and an employee who joined our team two days before the final event of the season, just in time to help us prevail in tug-of-war.

“Participating in trivia was a blast! As a remote employee, I miss out on some of the things that happen back at our home office, but trivia was a great way for me to be involved in our company culture and have fun with my coworkers.” – Matthew McGill, Information Security Consultant

The Des Moines Corporate Games absolutely strengthened our bond as teammates. Over the summer, we shared goals, emotions and victories. Whether it was anticipation of a big race coming up, laughs over trivia or the glory from earning a silver medal in tug-of-war, we were in it together as each other’s biggest cheerleaders. When the games were over, we were overcome with pride for our company and for one another.   

“The Games provided a different way for me to build relationships with my coworkers. I was a new employee who had only been working at Pratum for a couple of months, and the events were a great way for me to get to know the people I work with outside of work.” – Nick Keech, Client Engagement Advisor

Yes, we were proud of the 14 medals we walked away with (four gold, six silver and four bronze, who’s counting though?). Truthfully, the real source of pride came from the encouragement and support that we received from each other. All the time we chose to spend with each other during lunch, nights and weekends speaks volumes about the strength of our culture, and that’s something we are proud of.

From posts and pictures on our company’s online collaborative platform to high-fives in the hallway and medals displayed in our offices and at our desks, the Des Moines Corporate Games has had a lasting impact on us at Pratum. The games embodied the competitive spirit and skills of our team, as well as the positivity of our culture. We can’t wait to do it all over again in 2020.

Interested in participating in the 2020 Des Moines Corporate Games? Registration is now open. The company registration deadline is March 1, 2020.

Named as the #13 Best Place to Live in the U.S. and #7 Best City for Living the American Dream, Greater Des Moines (DSM) is the fastest growing metro in the Midwest. Learn more about what it’s like to live here.