This Consulting Firm Pays Its Employees to Have Fun

Omlie offers a monthly allowance for co-workers to get together outside the office.

- BY BRIAN CONTRERAS

It all started with a rock climbing trip. Like many companies, Omlie—a consulting firm based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania—often organizes team-building activities for its employees. Last summer, a climbing excursion ran into a minor snag: An employee had a fear of heights.

For Omlie founder and CEO Sarah Burlew, that offered a moment of clarity. What was the point, she wondered, of a team-building exercise that not everyone enjoyed?

“There's certainly value in challenging your comfort zone and doing things out of your mindset, but to what degree is that actually adding value?” asks Burlew, 43, who has to shape company culture at a business for which most employees work remotely four to five days per week.