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In today’s corporate landscape, the allure of the Pizza Party Culture has become all too familiar—a symbol of well-intentioned but ultimately superficial gestures in the workplace. But what does a truly fulfilling and supportive company culture look like?
It’s about understanding the unique needs of each employee, nurturing personal growth and fostering a sense of belonging. Join us as we explore the keys to creating a culture that prioritizes the well-being and individuality of every team member, ultimately driving loyalty, engagement and sustainable success.
Don’t Build a Pizza Party Culture
Pizza parties can be great, don’t get me wrong! They’re one way to show your appreciation to your hardworking team, especially since you can write the expense off on your taxes. But pretend for a moment that you’re an employee who has been working hard on a project for a long time. At the end of the project, the company has made large profits as a result of your team’s hard work.
The company thanks you in a meeting or an email and throws you a pizza party. Nobody has asked you how you’d like to be recognized for your work. Whether you like pizza isn’t considered. The party might even feel like just one more work obligation where you’ll have to pretend to be grateful for a gesture that feels patronizing.
The Pizza Party Culture is so common that it’s become the subject of many memes. In fact, the pizza party has almost become a symbol of a terrible workplace culture. So if pizza parties aren’t the key to a healthy workplace culture, what is? Here are four keys to creating a healthy, fulfilling, and supportive culture.
1. Take Care of Employees’ Needs First
A pizza party might be received well by the employees of one company and terribly by another — the difference largely comes down to the underlying culture. Do your employees feel that all their needs are being met? Are they being paid well enough for what they do? Do they have good benefits? Do they have enough vacation time to really relax? Do their work schedules accommodate their busy lives?
Remember that the reason your employees work for you is because they need a paycheck to cover their bills and enough to have fun on top of that. They need the flexibility to be able to stay home with their kids when they’re sick, and good enough health insurance that they won’t struggle to pay medical bills. Too many companies believe that by creating an environment they perceive as fun, they can cut corners on what really matters to their workers, and when they do, gestures like pizza parties feel more than just empty — they feel patronizing.
We send an anonymous survey to employees twice a year asking them how likely they are to recommend working for our company to a friend. And they can anonymously provide feedback on what they like or want to see improved.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
2. Ask How Each Person Wants to Be Recognized
Each member of your team is an individual, and it’s important to understand that people want to be recognized in different ways. Some people prefer to play supportive roles and may feel embarrassed by being thanked in front of a team, while others may need regular verbal recognition from their leaders. Some may even love pizza as a reward for work well done, but you won’t know until you ask.
Creating a healthy culture requires good leadership, which starts with knowing your team on a personal level. Personality assessments can be helpful here, but you should also make space to get to know people and check in with them regularly to stay in touch with their lives, what matters to them and what they want. In doing so, you show that you care about them as people rather than just workers, and you can learn their individual needs and how they want to be recognized.
3. Create Opportunities for Growth
A healthy workplace culture is one that offers opportunities for personal and career growth. Nobody wants to feel stagnant in their job — like they’re just grinding away for a paycheck. It’s natural for humans to want a sense of progress and to continue learning, and this can be a major motivator to stay with a company.
It also goes a long way to show you care about your employees by giving them resources to develop and room to grow in their positions. Get to know them on a personal level and find out what their goals are, then do what you can to help them move toward those goals. Our People Success department has developed career pathing opportunities and continuing education for employees interested in being promoted.
4. Curate Your Team Carefully
Finally, culture is ultimately made of people — both team members and leaders at all levels. You can’t have a healthy culture without the right people. Curating your team requires training and development as well as hiring and firing. Most companies take culture fit into account in the hiring process, but more than that, it’s important to hire people for personality — people who will play well with others and are excited to learn.
If you hire someone who is highly skilled but is rude to their peers or inflexible in their approach and unwilling to learn, they can damage your culture. Don’t be afraid to fire people who are causing problems in your culture — they can ultimately cost you more than their skills can bring you as the environment turns toxic and causes good employees to leave.
Final Thoughts
It’s evident that the Pizza Party Culture, while well-intentioned, falls short of fostering a truly fulfilling workplace environment. To build a culture that prioritizes the well-being and individuality of every team member, it’s essential to take a proactive approach.
Let’s move beyond the superficial gestures and create a culture that supports and empowers every member of the team. The journey towards a more fulfilling workplace starts with each of us taking deliberate actions to create positive change.
