I figured it was about time I wrote a post explaining this blog's tagline - "it's all about the biscuits".I believe very strongly that of the many thousands of pieces of advice that can be offered (and we will continue to offer) about how to improve your office morale it can be broken down to something very very simple. It's all about the biscuits.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't pay your staff a decent wage, be flexible about working hours, listen to them and encourage their individuality and creativity. But while you're doing all that, just make sure there's some decent biscuits available. For the sake of a couple of quid a week you can get nice chocolate digestives, hobnobs or just a decent selection box.
The very worst thing you can do is have biscuits available for meetings and then not allow your staff to eat them, or have different 'classes' of biscuit - good ones for meetings with important people, mediocre ones for less important people and cheap ones for your staff. Classism by biscuits is not a healthy message to be sending.
Splurge occasionally and bring in Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Get in cakes for people's birthdays and anniversaries at work. If money is a bit tight, encourage people (and set a good example) to bake cookies and bring them in.
From IndexedOver the last few weeks in my office we have had cake to celebrate a birthday and someone's 10th anniversary with the company, champagne to celebrate someone's engagement and lots of leftover food from meetings because they intentionally over-cater so there's enough for staff. That cost may be 50quid and increased office morale a huge amount, it made us feel like a group of colleagues rather than just isolated individuals.
It's also a good opportunity for everyone to get together and chat. It's not a formal meeting but it's a good chance to listen to staff and find out what's going on. Why not just knock off work half hour early every Friday, get some sort of food in chat about how the week's been?
See Also
Sometimes it's about tea
1 comment:
I did some training for a company who had exceeded their internal targets the previous year. As a reward, senior management decided to give everyone in the company a present.
Those on the shop floor got a bottle of champagne each, not bad for just above minimum wage unskilled labour.
The middle managers all got taken for a day at the races. Makes sense from the top, they are more "senior" in the company so they deserve a better reward.
However, the message this sent to the shop floor was "thanks guys, you did ok, but it was the work the middle managers did that we really value".
What was supposed to be a reward for work well done ended up creating an enormous feeling of resentment between shop floor and management. One of the senior managers was even heard to say "They should be grateful to even get champagne".
The message is clear, all your staff deserve the same biscuits, rewards or whatever perk you are giving out. If you don't believe that then you have to ask yourself why you value some jobs as more important than others and whether you are right to do so.
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