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The Necessity of Meeting for Coffee

T oday we still need this break, living fast-paced managers and professionals was 41 hours, while hourly

lives and, as German social theorist Hartmut
and administrative staffers received 33 hours. In 2015 the
Rosa called it, in a “acceleration society” where
nearly 80% higher. But it’s not just specific programs that
everyone is constantly busy with work, family, numbers were 78 and 94 hours, respectively, which is
hobbies, social media, procrastination or even with just are more generous. The primary tool used to select and
being busy. No matter if you are an office worker or a free- rank candidates is Great Place to Work’s Trust Index
lancer, most of your time is most likely taken by work, that survey, which is distributed to a sample of employees at
is why it is extremely important to enjoy these 6-8 hours of each company. In effect, the workers vote their companies
your day. As freelancers can choose where to work and at onto the list using criteria related to the quality of their
what time of the day they feel most comfortable to do it, workplace cultures.
employees have less options as companies have more or less It is helpful to understand that there are differing
similar schedules. So today coffee break or any break from definitions of workplace culture. Many companies define
work matters more than ever and with the rapid development their “casual culture” as jeans and sweatshirts in the dress
of our society, it is not enough anymore to just have a vend- code, bring your dog to work or catered lunches on Fridays.
ing machine in the office, that is why, the tradition of coffee However, what would happen if these things disappeared?
break has to adjust. Would the defined culture disappear, too? Cool stuff
Luckily, nowadays companies started paying more at- around the office and lax dress codes may seem like cul-
tention to the happiness of their workers. With the trans- ture, however, these perks simply represent the workplace
parency of digital era, almost every serious business media environment. Dictionary definition of organizational
has a rank of the best companies to work for: Fortune, Forbes, culture is “values and behaviours that contribute to the
Business Insider etc.. There is even a website where employ- unique social and psychological environment of an orga-
ees can rank the company they work for according to how nization.” Similar people aren’t hired to fit culture – it’s
they feel, share salary reports, interview reviews and ques- about finding people who share the same values. Culture
tions, benefits reviews, office photos and more - and for teaches you how diversity can bring teams together. A
obvious reasons it is called Glassdoor. team member could be a great cultural fit, but still be
The existence of these rankings shows us that com- different from others they work with. That’s because
panies pay more and more attention to employees and the culture is not synonymous with one-size-fits-all. It de-
way they feel in the company. The best workplaces are scribes what a company represents both within its walls
aiming to get better. Because, for example, Fortune’s Great and to the outside world. If a company lacks a solid mission
Place to Work has used the same rigorous methodology nand goal, nothing will go well. But, if employees are fo-
to identify the best employers for nearly two decades, we cused on a common, clear goal, they’ll be driven to do
can make comparisons. Take education and development, their jobs no matter where they’re sitting, or how they’re
for example. In 1998 the average amount of training for scheduling their work.

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