My company is doing a "culture" re-evaluation type of thing. We've been required to answer several questionnaires. The first two being multiple choice type. This last one is a bit more difficult, in that it wants questions answered in sentences/paragraph style. Here's the first question and I'm already stumped!
If
you could describe a culture where everyone involved felt so excited,
energized, and passionate about coming to work and doing their jobs that
they woke up two hours early every morning and could hardly wait to get
to work, what would that look like to you?
My DD and I had a humorous message exchange about it.
DD: Breakfast made and ready at desk. Personal puppy to play with all day. Ability to then leave 2 hrs earlier. Lol
ME: HAHAHA! that's exactly what I was thinking......and Starbucks LOL
DD: Everyone stays silent for the first 4 hours. No one is allowed to answer the phones. Personal back massager. And little chocolates on the keyboard.
ME: a chauffeur to the office
Kidding aside, how does one even realistically answer this and sound serious? I don't even know what to say.
For me, I could wear sandals to work and no bra, just blouse that did not reveal. I would get a 30 min break and hour lunch. Mean people would leave me alone. Students would love school. Everyone who called would know what they were talking about instead of having weird ideas about how the world worked. Oh, and I could lie down part of the time.
ReplyDeleteI know! It's hard to figure out how to answer seriously! DD also added "chocolates on my keyboard" LOL
DeleteHmm. Besides being able to not have to wear heels and a suit? A place that appreciated and welcomed feedback from every employee no atter how lowely, andn that appreciated and valued the families in the background? And yes, chocolate! Chocolate is it's own food group.
ReplyDeleteWe already have such a great office "culture" in my opinion. Jeans are the norm daily wear. It's a super relaxed environment. I guess the reason for this is we are growing and experiencing growing pains and some dept's are not getting along with each other as well as before.
DeleteHmm, perhaps they could make everyday feel like Christmas with a daily surprise. Monetary or chocolate would be a good start. Lol
ReplyDeletethat's good! I think small little "perks" are great. Like when I first started working there we had a cabinet of snacks, mostly candy bars. I think they were like .25 each. Drop your money in the bowl and someone would go to Costco and stock up when it got low. Plus we had a fridge stocked with free soda, snapple, water and juice. Then they took away the snack cabinet. Then put in candy and pop machines. While they took those away, they did add other perks, so it's not like they took away all little perks.
DeleteA year or two ago they got rid of the candy and soda machines and brought back free soda. But I missed being able to have tea or juice, since I don't drink soda. Apparently now they have a snack cabinet again.
DeleteThat is an odd question. Do you think your company wants 10 more unpaid hours out of their employees each week and wants to see what the price would be for the perks said employees want?
ReplyDeleteThe first couple of times I read it, I also read it that I would want to be AT work 2 hours early every day. After I read it a few times, then I thought well, maybe it's just saying I'd be up and out of bed 2 hours earlier then needed, just because I'm so excited about my day at work. not necessarily that I have to be there 2 hours early.
DeleteI don't think that they want 10 more hours. They are very good about encouraging a work/life balance. There are some who are workaholics and work 10 hour days anyway. They are generous with paid days off/holidays and we also get every other Friday as a half day, work from home that day and the following Monday, to reduce commute time.
DeleteI don't think anything would make me that enthusiastic to rush to work and I don't think that is a logical expectation. I need more time alone so, a fantastic workplace would be one who would let me work from home all the time:) Does that sound familiar?
ReplyDeleteThere really isn't anything that would make me want to get up 2 hours earlier than I already do LOL. It was hard to answer that question and the ones that followed.
DeleteI think discord between departments is a big reason for this "culture" evaluation. There isn't favoritism going on, but our depts functions are so closely intertwined that we need to work as one unit better.
ReplyDeleteI think an ideal answer would be to know that every opinion is highly valued and appreciated while working together to a common goal while being highly profitable.
ReplyDeleteand as long as the profit is shared with the employees ;) I'm still not even sure that is something that would make me so excited I'd want to get up two hours earlier every day because I was so excited about work. LOL
DeleteMy idea of an ideal work environment is one in which there is no rude and abusive behavior, no favoritism and where everybody' s voice is heard. Does such a place even exist?
ReplyDeleteoh, I think there definitely places like that. The company I work for is awesome. No one is rude or abusive and people get along very well with each other. We also have fun and laugh and joke a lot. I suppose size of company matters. We only have about 50 employees. My boss is AMAZING. I couldn't ask for a better boss.
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