I consider myself a foodie. I like trying new foods and reading about food trends. I enjoy watching the Food Network and the Cooking Channel. I have more recipes posted on Pinterest than… well, you get the point.
I also think it’s totally cool for employees to share their food memories at work. In fact, I learned all about ceviche from a co-worker. Food can bring people together. We just have to remember there’s a right time and place.
As much as I enjoy the culinary arts, I draw the line when it comes to food being used in training. Years ago, I was taught to include food as a “fun” element in training. The suggestion was to put confetti and candy on tables. The room will look fun. Participants will love it.
Then, I attended a presentation about workplace diversity. The speaker used jellybeans as a way to demonstrate a concept. Some people thought it was a fabulous analogy. The different color jellybeans help visualize different skin tones.
Two people at my table were visibly annoyed with the speaker. I didn’t know why at the time.
Later I found out that one of the people at the table had a color vision deficiency. The second person had diabetes. So here we are at a session talking about respecting people and there was this huge disconnect. I have no idea if the trainer was ever informed that this happened during the session. But I walked away learning a lot about diversity. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the point the trainer was trying to make.
It also made me wonder what participants thought of the candy my employees put out during training sessions.
So at the next workshop, I stopped. The facilities people were thrilled that the confetti was gone. They couldn’t stand vacuuming all those little pieces of paper off the floor. And one of the participants told me that he appreciated not staring at candy all day because he was a diabetic.
A lesson for trainers everywhere: do your audience analysis. Know who will be attending your training and make the event about them. Not about you.
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Lee Burbage says
Good thought process – wrong conclusion. Candy should not be provided in any setting. Gone are the days of pizza in the office. Go for Veggies! If you want to keep your team around forever, respect & love them by serving healthy options.
JoAnn Corley says
Actually — good insights and thoughts. Thanks for sharing…
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comments. Lee brings up another consideration – the relationship between HR and corporate wellness. The conversation is stronger than ever before.
Lee Burbage says
If you cruise over to Glassdoor and read the reviews of companies with free food as a perk they are often followed by half joking comments about weight gain. We go for healthy snacks – no soda and fruit/veggies always available.
To Sharlyn’s point you won’t hit everyone’s needs, but you go a lot further in investing in the whole person for a long career.
Betty McHale says
Thanks for sharing. I too, have used food in my training sessions before. You present an important lesson we should all consider pertaining to health/wellness and consideration for others.
Aleister Avila says
Sharlyn, interesting insights. There are definitely some very important points to consider. The way I think about food’s purpose in training (specially long sessions) is to help the audience focus on the training vs. being hungry.