office space
i'm a morning person. not right away, of course, but as soon as my feet hit the floor. and i'm good for about 3 hours (in conjunction with a strong cup of coffee).
at 1, i'm done.
what is it with businesses in america?
at what point did we decide that the siesta was worthless? does no one see that people just cannot mentally produce perfection for 8 hours straight? can we not see the nugget of truth in shows like "the office" or movies like "office space"?
this irks me to no end.
so here's my simple proposal, a recipe for productivity and peace, if you will:
1. for every hour of solid work, employees must take a 10 minute walk around the building.
2. lunches shall be taken outside whenever possible.
3. an open loggia shall be provided in every building for employees to have at least 30 minutes of fresh air per day.
4. long lunches and siestas will be strongly encouraged. napping rooms will be made available and a staff of massage therapists will be on call.
5. every employee will be asked to take a consecutive three-week vacation, in addition to 10 vacation days which can be taken anytime.
6. two days out of the year will be devoted to institutional retreats and company bonding. these two days do not include holiday parties.
7. human resources will include within their mission statement the "intent to better the quality of life of each of its employees" and will meet with employees annually to discuss career growth and analyze each employee's skills and interests. human resources will have a career counselor on staff.
i think that's all i have for now. man, everytime i think about this, i begin to dream of running my own company. and breathe some freedom into business in america.
posted by Mary @ 10:14 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Good call on all your ideas. Now I admit that I do not have a traditional schedule and so I have no reason to complain but I would love for all people and myself more accountability that we are taking enough time off. We could learn something from Europeans on this one.
two comments:
1. what's a loggia?
2. the office, after the west wing, is the best show on television. hilarious.
3. your idealism is refreshing. i work with old people now, and most have relegated themselves to "making it to friday." (and i'm certain an idealist like yourself won't mind if i write comment #3 even though i said i only had two comments.) :)
cory, a loggia is "a roofed open gallery especially at an upper story overlooking an open court."
and yes, "the office" is really good, maybe even beating out "the west wing" (used to love it. wednesday nights were rum & coke & west wing nights in my college apt. but then they really started talking too fast and i lost the ability to keep up. sad).
in other news, i have about 100 ideas to post after buying the nov/dec issue of adbusters (i figured stopping in at borders and reading it three times now was sign enough that i found it engaging). it's highly provoking. recommended reading for sure.
Hmmm... This seems like a utopian idea to me. I mean, it seems like there are really only a small percentage of companies that really care about their employees and I don't work for one of them.
It's really hard for me to balance the intense cynicism I have some days in working for "the man" against the days that I feel like I at least did a few useful things that made a few customers' or employees' days better and therefore made my day worthwhile.
On the other hand, I am somewhat of a workoholic and have a built-in hard-working mentality. I still work circles around a lot of my employees because I'm very fast and efficient at many things. I don't really take breaks (by choice), and at home sometimes I feel guilty if I sit around and do nothing productive. Then the part of me kicks in that says its ok to relax, have a glass of wine and watch some TV. There's got to be a balance.
This is kind of a bunny trail, but I'm posting it anyway.
a three consecutive week vacation
ok, i meant to write more than that, but i was doing two things at once (at work) and got a little distracted.
all i was gonna say is that i'd like to have a 3 week vacation, +10 days whenever i want it.
yeah... that would be awesome!!!
and... I've very much NOT a morning person, but i'm sure you already knew that. (smile)
(doing my part to make sure you have lots of comments on this one, he he)
one more thing, i also sit in a mega-corporate bookstore and read adbusters drinking starbucks coffee. ain't that a kick in the pants...
good call. i know, i'm embarrassed. but i actually threw out my [finished] cup of starbucks coffee before i entered the borders and bought my adbusters.
c'mon, though, one step at a time, right?
Absolutely a great idea! For years in the "office world" that noon to two period should have been for walks, naps, exercise -- I don't think companies would lose any productivity -- so now we need to get you into a position with the power to make it happen!!
i have started implementing some of those ideas in my own life. down with the corporate world. work for yerself!
rather be broke than corporate ruled :) someday i wont be broke and i still wont be ruled by 'the man.' well that is my hope.
time for a nap.
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