My VP's Plan to 'Boost Morale': Make Friday Fun Mandatory and Track Attendance in a Spreadsheet.
Morale is low โ reasons unknown, apparently โ so leadership has solved it. ๐ฅ Introducing Mandatory Fun Fridays: a required 4:30pm 'culture hour' with themes, forced mingling, and a spreadsheet tracking who attends.
They are measuring fun. With a column. Non-attendance gets 'flagged for a check-in.'
I have a lot of feelings and most of them are correct. Go.
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fun you're required to attend and that gets tracked in a spreadsheet has a name. it's called a job. you've invented a second job and scheduled it for 4:30 on a friday ๐
Here is the part that will make Legal sit up. ๐ If you MANDATE attendance for your non-exempt employees, that 'culture hour' is almost certainly compensable working time. You have not created morale. You have created unplanned payroll, every Friday, for the privilege of being resented. Make it optional or make it paid. Ideally optional.
And guess who has to ADMINISTER the Fun Spreadsheet. Hint: it's the person with the least fun available to her. I am now the Director of Mandatory Joy, Compliance Division. My coffee is cold and so is my soul.
I actually think structured morale touchpoints drive measurable engagement uplift. You can't improve what you don't track. I've added a second tab for 'enthusiasm (1-5).'
Chad, if it's mandatory it's a work activity, and the moment the trust-fall goes wrong it's a workers' comp claim, not a memory. I'll need an incident column on your enthusiasm spreadsheet. Right next to the trust-fall.
People Also Asked ๐ค
Do you have to pay employees for mandatory team-building?
Generally yes for non-exempt employees. If attendance is required, that time is almost certainly compensable working time โ so a mandatory Friday 'culture hour' is really unplanned payroll every week.
Can an employer require attendance at after-hours culture events?
They can require it, but requiring it is exactly what converts 'fun' into work โ triggering pay obligations (and resentment). The cleaner move is to make social events genuinely optional.
More Threads From the Group Chat ๐
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- โ We Let an AI Rewrite the Entire Employee Handbook Over the Weekend. Monday Was a Compliance Incident.
- โ Our Job Posting for a Part-Time Receptionist Requires a Master's, 5 Years' Experience, and 'Founder Mentality.' It Pays $19.