Steve Parks

An entrepreneurial army marches on its stomach

It's a well known saying by military strategists that an army marches on its stomach. One of the key things they have to plan is how to feed the troops. Plenty of good food raises morale and gets better results. Little or poor food reduces morale and gets worse results.

Google seems to have taken this message to heart and has hired gourmet chefs to provide the catering to all staff in their headquarters (the GooglePlex).

The staff love it, competitors' staff long for it. Staff are eating healthier meals, and they don't mind if they have to put in extra hours, because they can get a great meal. It's all part of Google's way of making staff feel valued and motivated - that the company will give them the best of anything. And staff love bragging to their friends, and the rest of the world, about it.

How many people in companies you've worked for would keep an online blog with photographs of meals they've had in the staff canteen?

It happens at Google:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brettlider/sets/154249/

They also provide a free snack bar for staff:
http://www.valleywag.com/tech/free-food/index.php

Food, drinks and snacks are a cheap readily available resouce - how can you use them to increase staff morale?

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