Getting to know each other
Employees at Bankers Healthcare Group are getting to know each other a little better over a cup of Joe.
The Davie-based company, known as BHG, recently launched “The Coffee Break,” a program through which its workers can break the ice over coffee at a nearby cafe for about a half-hour or so — on the company’s dime and clock.
Started three months ago, it is designed to help employees learn about their colleagues and understand each other’s roles within the health-care lending business. BHG partnered with coffeehouses near its three offices — in Davie, New York City and Syracuse, N.Y. — and provides employees with gift cards to make purchases.
“We had an amazing response as soon as we launched it,” said Kaitlin Barnes, BHG’s director of people operations.
The program is voluntary. “Nobody is forced to do it. It’s really just a benefit for our employees who are interested in it,” Barnes said.
But she said many of BHG’s executives have volunteered for the program, which gives workers one-on-one access with top brass on a casual basis, something that can be rare in a workplace.
Employee Stella Street wanted to learn more about business intelligence, so she asked for a coffee break with someone in that department. She was paired with Kevin Billings, director of business intelligence. They both had been at the company a little more than six months.
Over fancy coffee drinks and snacks at Ella Cafe in Plantation, they talked about graduate school — each has higher degrees. Bil-