Office Snacks A Perk?

Your mention of #office #snacks (indirect benefit) brings a past experience to mind. Office snacks may seem like a trivial matter when deciding whether the #benefit package is agreeable enough to accept a position with a company, but I learned the hard way regarding this topic. Once during a #job #interview , the hiring manager spent several minutes discussing the quality and variety of office snacks available to employees. She shared about the organic options, the vendors used to purchase the snacks, how often orders were placed and more. I accepted the position with zero regard for the snacks. I later found out that one of the main snack cabinets was located in the same room where I was assigned to sit. Two other people sat in the room as well. The size of the room was more like a large supply closet or a very small #conference room. All day long people came in and out to access the snack #cabinet. Imagine the flow of traffic, people opening and closing cabinet drawers, moving stuff around to find the desired snack, and making polite conversation even when we were clearly on conference calls. It was definitely a painpoint. #Freesnacks turned out to be the crux of my day intead of a valuable #indirectbenefit. In the end, we petitioned to have the cabinet moved to a better location. I had no desire to be anywhere near the cabinet after the move, so I never got to enjoy the snacks. If I ever have the option to choose a customized benefit package that offers free snacks or higher pay, the latter will be my choice. I now ask more detailed questions about all the benefits presented as part of?a hiring package. You never really know the cost unless you ask or experience it firsthand.

Thanks,

xxxxxxx.

xxxxxxx,

I have never heard of free snacks as being such a detriment to a position before this. Honestly, I would not put up with the disruption for more than that first day.?Having overcome any desire to put up with nonsense from anyone, including an employer, I would have done one of three things: One, immediately requested politely but firmly that the snack cabinet be moved to a nondisruptive location or, alternatively, asked for my work location be moved, ending the request with "will that be taken care of later today or tomorrow"? Obviously, the point is that I expected the #problem to be #fixed quickly. I have done this many times before, and it causes several different #responses . The first being the person to whom I am making the request actually agrees to do something about the problem. The second is that they protest that it is not within their ability to fix, which gets the response, "please direct me to who can fix the problem?" The third response is #indignation that I dared to make #demands on the person, their #attitude being that I should know my place. In each case, I politely thank them for their time and vacate their presence.

This brings me to a second course of action.?If the problem is not fixed quickly, I fix it myself. In the situation with the cabinet, I would move it myself, out of my office. Depending on options, the cabinet would be moved to any place convenient for me to get it out of my way. Perhaps it would be moved to a breakroom, an empty office, or even out in the hall away from my office door. If the cabinet was too big to move, I would put a lock on it with a sign, closed pending relocation. For ten years or so, I have called this “gangstering” a resource or other critical need. It is always better to ask forgiveness (especially when it is not really meant) than permission knowing it will be denied or get lost in bureaucratic nonsense in which no one is willing to make a decision. That I announce |I am “gangstering” a resource as I am doing it seems to be very effective in eliminating the consequences or minimizing them. This is part of my modus operandi:?#Lead , #Follow , or Get Out of My Way.?It makes me a great #leader and difficult to #supervise if my #supervisor is not a leader. It is also why I have replaced my immediate supervisor so many times that I have lost count, even though it has never been my intention to do so.

Paul