Earth and Wheat regularly uses major sporting events, such as the football World Cup or the Wimbledon tennis championships, to engage and motivate its workforce as it helps with team bonding.
The sustainable grocery subscription box service that solely operates in the UK employs 20 members of staff.
As a brand that is only three years old, it acknowledges that it can take time to build team spirit. Despite this, it has found that watching sporting events together as a team has been great for morale. One example of this was bringing in snacks and soft drinks last year when the Lionesses played at the Women’s World Cup. The employer allowed staff to stop and watch the game when they were working during the day.
Feedback from members of the team about the initiative has been excellent, explains James Eid, founder of Earth and Wheat.
“Most of them are extremely excited about England playing at the Euros in Germany and we want to feel part of that too,” he says. “We hope to see the men perform for England in the upcoming European Championships, as we like to promote having the same togetherness here on our packing lines, as Harry Kane and his teammates do on the pitch. Celebrating sporting events in the workplace is a shared human experience and a fantastic opportunity to create a special moment where people can come together.”
While the employer’s brand mission is based around sustainability, it also focuses on the health and wellbeing of its staff; its aim is to foster a culture of wellbeing, which recognises and appreciates employees and promotes their development and growth.
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In terms of ensuring employees are engaged with the organisation, Earth and Wheat encourages them to have a voice by asking for their opinions and feedback, so it can then listen and act accordingly. It ensures its hybrid workers feel part of its community, which it saw last year when those who were due to work from home when major sporting events were on wanted to be in the office with the rest of the team.
“I’m sure it will be the same over the coming weeks with the Euros,” Eid says. “Ensuring all members of the team at Earth and Wheat are happy is especially important to me personally. We have created an open environment at Earth and Wheat and I also aim to make myself as accessible as possible, because I always want to hear the team’s views.”