The conventional morning tea break for industrial workers is halfway between reporting time and a break for lunch. This narrative is about a breakaway from the tradition which in the incident case, resulted in visible improvement in productivity and morale of workers
The caveat- it is not suggested that this model be employed universally, not also for the maintenance staff in Malibu Town. Perhaps it may work for domestic workers or part-time helps.This offbeat tea break experiment relates to picturesque KOCHI and its islands in Kerala.
There is an artificial island called WILLINGDON tucked inside backwaters around Kochi. Willingdon Island has aport, a Naval base and a Dockyard. The workforce in this Dockyard are local men who fall under the category of Industrial Workers. I was the head of the dockyard at Willington as the Commodore.
Superintendent, a quarter of a century ago (1997-99). The workers came to work from nearby islands viz. VYPEEN and FORT COCHIN, to name a few. There are other islands and uninhabited is lets towards the southwest of mainland Kochi. Besides the current of back waters and the ships entering the placid navigable channel is a sight to behold in this part of South India.
Reverting to the main story of Tea Break. As Willingdon is water- locked, dockyard workers used a combo of ferry service and a cycle
ride to reach the place of work. I expected the workers to mark their attendance in time. However, workers often missed breakfast at home to allow adequate time for commuting. Yet many workers invariably punched in late and also were hungry in the morning. As an experiment, I introduced 15 15-minute tea break the first thing in the morning instead of a normal tea break.
The handful of Canteen staff got some overtime allowance to prepare hot breakfast snacks for workers. And lo, the workers performed very well after a Welcome Fare on arrival! Naturally, the overall impact was positive with a visible increase in productivity in all work centres.
Malibu Town is an oasis surrounded by concreted development and chaotic traffic outside. Residents may wish to replicate my experience down south with their respective domestic help. The work equation between residents and maids and their preferred time for Tea is a matter of personal choice for maids as well. After all they are as important and must enjoy their job and tea.
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in Work”- Aristotle.
