Companies looking for a novel way to boost employee morale and engagement are looking to their backyards for inspiration. As the Wall Street Journal reported last week, a corporate vegetable garden is the latest tool in battle to win hearts and minds.
Employer-sponsored gardens can be a cheap and easy way to boost workers' morale, relate better to certain customers and expand a company's health and wellness program.
...For a small employer, a garden can encourage camaraderie among co-workers and become "a valuable asset the organization is offering," said Paul Teslak, a professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. It requires relatively few resources, can help in recruiting and differentiate a small business from its competitors, he said.
Nice idea. And it certainly beats most of the other "team building" contrivances that have come and gone over the past few years.
