Don't Eat at your Desk

In a call center, as part of a wellness program, the customer service reps were told not to work through their staggered lunch breaks. Since lunch was the only break they were given in the day, management felt it was important for the reps to stretch their legs, go to the lunch room, take a break and chat with colleagues.

On the other hand, management also imposed Service Standards on the reps, which required orders to be processed within a certain amount of time. Because the workload was consistently beyond capacity, most of the reps ended up having to work through lunch, staying at their desk.

So, the reps would be chastised for violating the company's wellness policy, but the consequences were even greater for not meeting the Service Standards. Employees chose the lesser of two evils, and often ate at their desk while they worked through lunch, without pay.

Some people might celebrate or criticize this as a devious management success, but management at this shop truly had good intentions. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to hear the voices of their employees or of their processes, and truly thought that the workload was manageable. These kind of conflicting job requirements make workers crazy.