It's 8 a.m and a bell rings at Grayling Industries' sales office. The 14 employees bound from their cubicles and effusively greet their co-workers like they hadn't seen each other in months.

"Hi Ken." "Hi Jerry." "Good morning John."

John Amis / Special (ENLARGE)

Grayling Industries executives start their work day in a regimen called 'magical alphabet.' Sandy Craft, right, Dorothy Pahner, and Ben Greene, left, perform the exercises, which supposedly help the left brain and right brain harmonize.

But the friendly vibes don't end there. It's now time for "abecedario magico" (magic alphabet). They form a circle, face a poster with the alphabet and quickly count off the letters, waving their hands in unison — left, right, left, together — like they're doing the Macarena. Then it's fingers, then heads, then fingers.

Each worker then tells the group what he or she will accomplish today.

Employees nearly gush about an "all-for-one" esprit de corps and joke about drinking the company Kool-Aid or joining a cult. Sales director Ben Greene, who heads the team located in a non-descript office park in Alpharetta, said workers have bought into the unusual morning ritual that is meant to limber them up, build a sense of community and put their minds in a good place.

"At first, you feel silly," said Greene, an 18-year employee of the company that manufactures protective shipping liners and asbestos containment products. "We voted a couple of times: Is this silly? But we voted to keep it."

Greene said the "abecedario magico," borrowed from the company's manufacturing plant in Juarez, Mexico, is fun, odd and takes concentration to perform correctly.

"It wipes out what was on your brain, what you brought in with you — American Express bill, traffic," he said.

Companies are increasingly trying to initiate programs that help heal the body and mind, while building teamwork and morale.

"Obviously, people want happy employees," said Terry "Doc" Dockery, an Atlanta psychologist who consults with businesses. "An enjoyable ritual in the morning helps their body feel good and gets them in tune with their co-workers."

Greene said such limbering exercises are more common in manufacturing plants in Mexico and Japan. Dockery said such group mind-body calisthenics are relatively unusual in office settings, especially in the United States.

A 2005 study by the British government concluded, "There is [mostly anecdotal] evidence for benefits from limbering up or stretching exercises ... performed before or during work."

Great Moore, a 31-year-old salesman and Army veteran, is one of the more junior Grayling employees. He said he thought his co-workers were a bit odd when he first saw them all shaking hands. He thought they were plain weird when they formed a circle and chanted the alphabet.

"I thought it was a practical joke on the new guy," he said. "I was looking for the cameras."

But the atmosphere, he said, helps curb the tension and anxiety inherent in the sales business.

"It's a constant, the pushing, the pulling things forward," said Moore, who had previously worked for a large corporation. "Here, it was a nice change. Everyone pulls together."

Employees are paid a salary, plus bonuses based on the team's goals. A pure commission-based system pits sales people against each other, the company believes.

The Grayling way encourages collaboration, as all share in the spoils. There is also a no-gossip policy, which is enforced.

"It poisons everything if you talk about someone not around," said Greene, who added that the office philosophy is pretty simple. "It's common sense. It's what your mom taught you."