What do chickens and The Houses of Parliament have to do with morale in the workplace?
Well let me explain. An Anglo-Irish friend of mine always waxes lyrical about the Gaelic wisdom of his old, beloved Uncle Tighe.
Uncle T ran a successful building firm where his workers were well known for being hard working, honest and above all happy.
Why? Well according to my friend his uncle was a master at man management. He knew when to cajole, when to command and above to always show his staff care, compassion and kindness.
According to this wise old Irishman ‘Happy chickens lay more eggs.’ There is actual medical evidence to back up this claim as stress has an impact on a hen’s ability to lay eggs.
Happy Chickens lay more eggs.
It’s something we strive for at My News. I want my team to be happy working here. That’s why we do all we can to make it a place where we work really hard but also have a lot of fun and laughs along the way.
Our offices have a bar football table and chill out area complete with a fridge for Friday afternoon drinks and snacks.
Every month we hold our team meeting at a local restaurant, usually someone who advertises with us.
However, we did something extra special yesterday when we went to the Houses of Parliament to catch up and plan the month ahead. It was fantastic and having our local MP, Richard Harrington, to show us around made it even more interesting and special. The feedback from the team was unanimously positive and there’s a real feel good factor around the office today.
Next month it’ll be at the Epsom Racecourse.
I’m also a big believer in giving credit where it’s due. That’s why we’ve recently introduced Employee of the Month. It’s voted for by all members of the team and the winner gets a prize, a place on our wall of fame and most importantly they know publicly how much their hard work, talent and honesty is appreciated.
I think you can very quickly gauge morale in any business within a few minutes of dealing with them.
If the staff are grumpy, rude or disinterested there’s obviously a problem. It’s either hiring the wrong people or treating the right people in the wrong way.
Uncle Tighe’s words reminded me of what John Lewis, the founder of the John Lewis Partnership, said in the 19th century about the importance of treating your staff well and the rock solid business sense behind it.
“Look after your staff well because in turn they’ll look after your customers in the right way and happy customers ensure healthy profits.”
Thanks for reading,
Nik
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