This company pays employees to play pickleball: ‘Work should be fun'

Some people look forward to their lunch break or 3 p.m. coffee at the office — but Liz Martin eagerly awaits her afternoon pickleball match against her co-workers. 

Martin, 28, works at Room & Board, a Minneapolis-based furniture retailer with an indoor pickleball court on the first floor of its office building. 

Every other Tuesday at noon, Martin, a merchandising and design specialist, spends an hour on the court before jumping into back-to-back meetings.

"I never thought I'd be into pickleball, but now, it's one of my favorite parts of the day," says Martin, who started playing pickleball a year ago.

Room & Board installed the court in 2013 to complement its in-house gym. Although the sport has been a consistent favorite among employees since the court was first unveiled, its popularity has skyrocketed in the past two years, says Nancy Manley, Room & Board's chief people officer.

Pickleball, a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong, was invented in 1965 but experienced an unexpected boom during the Covid-19 pandemic. People flocked to the low-cost paddle sport as a safe way to enjoy the outdoors, but its popularity has outlasted the pandemic. 

Soon after Room & Board began calling employees back to the office in the fall of 2021, Manley's inbox was flooded with requests for pickleball lessons, matches and partners. 

How it works

Room & Board asks employees to work in its Minneapolis headquarters at least two days per week. Of the 350 employees working out of Room & Board's headquarters, Manley estimates that at least 50 use the pickleball court every week. 

Employees can use the court at any time before, during or after the workday, although most prefer to play pickleball in the morning and afternoon, says Manley, 63.

"We don't want people coming into the office and sitting on video calls all day … otherwise, what's the point?" she adds. "Work should be fun." 

Matches are treated like any other work meeting at the company — players are organized through an email listserv, and the court can be reserved on the same online software used to book conference rooms. Room & Board also provides paddles and balls for staff.

"To have happy, healthy and productive employees, you need to give them the space and tools to take care of themselves," says Manley. "Pickeball is just another outlet for people to de-stress and sweat a little." 

The benefits of office pickleball

Debbie Hutson says it was hard to meet people outside of her direct team and make friends when she first joined Room & Board's staff as a compensation manager in January 2022. But playing pickleball at the office "changed all of that," she says.

"Now, I'm teaching other employees I normally wouldn't cross paths with how to play pickleball," says Hutson, 57. "It's helped me build stronger relationships at work, for sure."

Other employees swear by the cognitive benefits of playing pickleball.

Martin says even spending 30 minutes on the court makes her more productive when she returns to her desk. "I feel sharper, I feel more awake," she adds.

The only downside? Sometimes, games can get rowdy. "You can hear the echoes of laughter or groans of disappointment down the hall when someone misses a shot," says Manley. "But it's hardly disruptive … and I haven't gotten any complaints yet!"

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