Making Work Fun and Meaningful

And that enthusiasm for outdoor activities goes hand in hand with Patagonia’s commitment to preserving the environment. So rather than allowing these outside interests to become a distraction, Patagonia management encourages employees to take part in programs that foster environmental causes.

In fact, after a few years of service at Patagonia, employees are allowed to take a two-month paid leave of absence to intern for any nonprofit organization that supports the environment. Griswold spent her internship at a foundation focused on redistributing its donations from social to environmental causes. A coworker went to Kenya to work with a Nobel prize winner, who’s developing a tree-planting effort in arid regions of that country.