Fancy a pyjama party with Pam from Personnel?
Employee engagement is a challenge in any business. Poll after poll tells us that too many of us are dissatisfied at work and worse, feel undervalued.
But would you go as far as John Mackey, Chief Executive and founder of US-based Whole Foods Market, who organises staff sleepovers?
Mackey’s approach to breaking down barriers involves packing your PJs and toothbrush to spend a night with your not so nearest and dearest.
“I know this sounds weird, but there’s something about sleeping in the same house and then fixing breakfast or dinner together that is very much a bonding experience,” he says.
This personal interaction, says Mackey, means workers can relate on a deeper level.
And while many would run fast and far from the idea of greeting the MD make-up free over tea and toast, Mackay’s point is that spending time with colleagues in a more personal setting is the best way to build up a trusting relationship and get leaders more emotionally involved with their teams.
Of course, the sleepover is just one of many ways in which Mackey has sought to make staff feel valued and that work is more than just a pay cheque since founding his company in 1980.
For a start – scary thought – he lets his staff make the big decisions.
When new employees join they are assigned to a team and put on two months’ probation. Only when they are approved by at least two-thirds of their team members in a secret ballot can they stay on permanently.
Individual stores have control over their budgets and staff have the power to innovate. One idea that came through this process is the “tap room” – an in-store beer and wine bar that lets customers nibble on food while sampling local wine and beers. It started as an employee idea in one store and is now in more than 100.
And all meetings end with “appreciations”, thanking people on the team for specific contributions to the firm, a simple idea that Mackey says has had a “huge revolutionary impact” in terms of improving staff relations.
“You have to create a culture where everybody has an opportunity to be recognised,” he says.
Bacon buttie anyone?
It works!