Reason 692 Why I Am Thankful to be FIREd

[tangomonster]

I have a friend who is 62 and works part-time at Home Depot. The powers that be decided it would be a morale booster to have the employees participate in some fun and games after the store closed. So----after working all day, they had to stay there for another two hours to play games like on the TV show Minute To Win It----physical challenges like using a tennis racquet positioned between the legs to move a gumball on the webbing from one spot to another without using their hands. They do get paid for their time and they will be fed, but still........

Makes me very grateful to not have to do this! Wonder if any employers have actual research showing that such mandatory events boost morale? Even if workers had fun during the event, does it translate to a better attitude while working the next day or next week?

 

[73ss454]

I don't know but I'm 62 and there is no game in the world that could cheer me up about having to have a job.

 

[Brat]

He was paid for that time, right? I know a bunch of hungry DOL Wage Hour Compliance Officer looking for easy pickings...

 

[pimpmyretirement]

Entertainment, food and pay? Sign me up!

 

[flyfishnevada]

When my uncle worked at Home Depot they would lock the doors and force the employees to clean the place up before they could leave for the night. I bet he would have rather played the games.

 

[Nords]

The powers that be decided it would be a morale booster to have the employees participate in some fun and games after the store closed. So----after working all day, they had to stay there for another two hours to play games like on the TV show Minute To Win It----physical challenges like using a tennis racquet positioned between the legs to move a gumball on the webbing from one spot to another without using their hands. They do get paid for their time and they will be fed, but still........

We used to refer to this "mandatory fun" as high-stress socializing. When I was on sea duty, I'd take the shipboard duty so that the other officers could get their valuable face time.

When I was on shore duty I didn't really have much choice in the matter. The low point was when our boss decided that our department would host a deluxe breakfast fundraiser (Navy Relief) for the entire admiral's staff. On Sunday morning. We were drafted to be waiters. We were the most highly-trained wait staff ever, just not on waiting tables.

After that spouse and I firmly declined all "social" invitations. I read about in my FITREP but I was happy to pay the price.

 

[chris2008]

I try to escape "mandatory fun" events at work. The term is a contradiction in itself IMO.

 

[obgyn65]

I haven't seen any research showing such mandatory events boost morale.

Wonder if any employers have actual research showing that such mandatory events boost morale?

 

[JmfromTx]

I haven't seen any research showing such mandatory events boost morale.

A two day team building course called Practicing Perfection last August boosted the heck out of my moral. It pi$$ed me off so bad that I decided I'd had enough and put my retirement planning on the front burner and six months later I was gone, gone, gone. Where I worked there were worker bees and parasites. In 30 years I saw worker bees turn into parasites but never ever saw a parasite turn into a worker bee. In fact when it came to boosting moral the parasites were usually in charge because the time they spent on it was time they weren't up on a hot noisy boiler working.

 

[donheff]

I got roped into a number of those mandatory bonding deals and enjoyed them for the most part but I realized that a lot of the victims hated them so I never imposed them on my own employees. I don't know how anyone can participate in those deals without non-stop images from The Office, or Office Space running through their heads.

 

[travelover]

I'll never forget a mandatory after hours event when our dog was dying. During breaks I would call my wife, who was totally beside herself.

Bastards.

 

[grasshopper]

I don't recall anything but after hours strip clubs and dinners with the gang. Ms G. was always subjected to the dunk tank at her company outings. Dunk the boss feel better about yourself, I'll settle for a lap dance.

 

[rescueme]

Wonder if any employers have actual research showing that such mandatory events boost morale?

It does - their own ...

Probably heard it while attending a management seminar on "improving" working relationships within the company.

IMHO, it dosen't work (yeah, been there - done that )...

 

[frayne]

I'm retired (for the past six years) and work part time during the cooler months of the year, pretty much for fun and the social interaction not to mention exercising the old brain. I kind of get a kick out role playing and going through some of the team building exercises. Guess it is different when you know you don't have to do it.

 

[scrabbler1]

In my years of working, I never had any interest in attending the company's annual holiday party in December which was at the end of a long workday. The last thing I wanted to do at 4 PM or 5 PM was to spend a few more hours hanging out with many of the same people I have been with for 7 hours. My long and lousy commute was more than an hour and the commuter trains started becoming scarce after 7 PM. I just wanted to get home.

Another benefit of not going to one of these events was that in the last ~hour of that day it became very quiet with everyone else away so I could get a lot more work done without any interruptions.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I have a friend who is 62 and works part-time at Home Depot. The powers that be decided it would be a morale booster to have the employees participate in some fun and games after the store closed. So----after working all day, they had to stay there for another two hours to play games like on the TV show Minute To Win It----physical challenges like using a tennis racquet positioned between the legs to move a gumball on the webbing from one spot to another without using their hands. They do get paid for their time and they will be fed, but still...........

Think how much higher their morale would have been if they simply had been paid the two additional hours plus the cost of the morale-building party (and really, which friend of the boss got paid to put this thing together) instead of having to go through this circus.

 

[ziggy29]

The only thing that would make this a "morale booster" is if it were *truly* voluntary -- but office politics being what they are, folks would still feel "pressured" to go even then. Yuck!

 

[Redbugdave]

How does that old saying go..."The floggings will continue until moral improves".

I'm not much for work sponsored "fun" or parties. Usually I'm ready to get off and get home to my real life...

 

[Sue J]

When I was in my 20's I worked for a family owned company that had a mandatory Christmas party. This was to make up for the previous year's Christmas party which ended in a loud argument involving the 3 adult siblings and elderly parents who were the owners. In the year since that party one of the brothers had hired a hitman (actually he had to do it twice because the first hitman took his money and never followed through) and had his brother murdered. So what we really needed was a Christmas party that had a better vibe.......

Another time this same company sent all of us supervisors and managers to a 1 day seminar that was supposed to be about relating better to your employees. What it turned out to be was how to prevent unions from coming in. But I remember it being a nice option to a day in the office and the food was decent.

 

[Nords]

How does that old saying go..."The floggings will continue until moral improves".

"We're gonna keep having these meetings until you can stop making excuses and explain why you're not getting any work done!!"

 

[Bimmerbill]

I used to call them "forced fun days." We had many "employee appreciation days" back when I worked for the Army. I always said if you want to appreciate me give me a raise or time off.

 

[M Paquette]

"Deming Award Kickoff Party"

"ISO 9000 or Bust Party"

Gah! Make it stop! No, not the five nines compliance checklist festival!

Then Steve decided that we should maybe concentrate on great products, rather than great certifications, rearranged the C-suite a bit, and ended this nonsense. I did save the t-shirts, though.

(NeXT was a sort of growth experience for everyone. Someday we'd grow up to be a real live company, without magical shortcuts.)

 

[W2R]

I used to call them "forced fun days." We had many "employee appreciation days" back when I worked for the Army. I always said if you want to appreciate me give me a raise or time off.

We had those too, once a year. At lunchtime went to a nearby park where, after an awards ceremony, we could eat, play baseball, and/or talk for the rest of the afternoon. If you didn't want to go, then you had to sit in your cubicle and work all afternoon.

Some people went to the park and then after an hour or so just quietly drifted away towards the parking lot (shhhh!)

 

[Nuiloa]

And while we're at it, let's talk about mandatory farewell parties, and retirement parties and birthday parties and on and on. They pass envelopes around for mandatory gift giving. There are mandatory luncheons and cake and coffee parties.

What bothers me most is that all this forced socializing just eats into my personal time. Far from turning co-workers into life-long bosom buddies, I believe they actually alienate them. I know I personally will never befriend anyone here and I doubt I'll even remember their names a year after I leave.

As Greta Garbo said: "I just want to be left alone".

 

[W2R]

I didn't like our retirement parties either, Nuiloa, especially because they were generally at a restaurant and we had to pay a flat fee of $30 in advance just for the meal. I was LBYM'ing and would never have paid that much for a meal on my own.

So, when I retired and my supervisor pushed me to have a retirement party, I finally relented but said it had to be a potluck in one of the conference rooms, so that the attendees could save the money for their own retirement nestegg. That seemed to work out pretty well. I think I was the first one ever to do that.