Printing company demands manager increases morale while mandating 12-hour days, gets annoyed when he hosts paper plane competition: 'You did what?'

Even the hardest worker has a limit on how much time they can spend working.

The vast majority of people simply aren't built to withstand being switched on and productive 24/7. Rest is an important part of being able to work to the best of our abilities, no matter what our work happens to be. It should be something that is a non-negotiable.

However, it is no secret that some employers like to see things such as breaktime and vacation days as optional. They want to get the most they can out of their employees, and they believe that the best way to do that is by making sure that their hours are as long as possible. While it is true that in some workplaces, some days are going to be longer than others, it is not usually a sustainable way to think long-term.

Nonetheless, this is exactly how some companies choose to operate, and it almost always has a negative effect on employees. Even with fairly paid overtime, the kind of commitment that comes with extra hours really takes its toll on people. It can be tough to motivate a team through such a time, even with the best management.

via Kenny Eliason

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One supervisor decided that creativity was the way forward when upper management claimed that they didn't care what he did, so long as he increased morale among employees. The printing company had gone through a period of working 12-hour days and 7-day weeks, leaving many feeling overworked.
In response, the manager decided to bring some fun into proceedings, shutting down production for a paper plane competition and encouraging employees to mix Pepsi and Mentos in the parking lot. When the chief operating officer found out about these antics, they were not pleased, but these activities seemed to have the positive effect that they had been hoping for.
"I don't care what you have to do to improve morale, just do it."

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