Judge a Company by the Kitchen It Keeps

By Rich Gilroy

When you compare marketing communications firms, what is the most important factor to consider? The portfolio? Case studies? Client testimonials? The firm’s website? How about its kitchen?

The other day, I remarked to Lisa Martin, LeapFrog Solutions’ founder and CEO, that we have the cleanest kitchen of just about anyplace I’ve ever worked. I went on to say that it seems to demonstrate what a collaborative and supportive team we have here. In all fairness, we do have a schedule in the kitchen and everyone (except, strangely, Lisa) is assigned a week of kitchen clean-up duty. Yet it’s not uncommon to see someone who’s not assigned to kitchen duty unloading the dishwasher, restocking the granola bars and giving the counters a wipe. This is especially true when the assigned kitchen-keeper is on travel, out sick or in non-stop meetings. And despite her exemption from assigned duty, I have seen Lisa empty the dishwasher. (Of course, being the well-known sycophant that I am, I always offer to help!)

We’ve all worked at offices in which the kitchen sink was usually  full of dirty mugs, dishes and flatware — even though the dishwasher was right next to the sink.  Years ago, I worked in an office where one individual became so exasperated by the sink full of dishes that she tossed out all the mugs. Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth that ensued.

There was another office in which the refrigerator had become so filled with plastic containers of decomposing leftovers and dips — and baggies of fuzzy green sandwiches ─ that the stench was overwhelming. We literally wore rubber gloves to clean and purge.

And still another office that much to the chagrin of its environmentally conscious staff, provided only paper plates and plastic flatware. Why? The office general manager told me — and I’m not making this up — that they used to stock regular dishes and flatware, but they kept “walking out the door.”

So if a clean kitchen suggests a dedicated, supportive — and dare I say, “happy” — team, what  does a dirty kitchen suggest?  Here’s a list  of possible theories:

• Sink full of dirty dishes:Passive-aggressive demonstration of unhappiness with senior management. Or pulled back muscles — likely caused by poor ergonomics of desk chairs — limiting mobility and ability  to place the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

Solution: Post a schedule of kitchen clean-up duties, and have the desk chairs checked to ensure they’re ergonomically sound.

• Dishwasher full of clean dishes that never ever gets emptied. Silo mentality of “that’s not my job.” Or uncertainty as to whether the dishes are clean or dirty.

Solution: Get a magnet that flips from clean to dirty and vice versa. When it’s flipped to clean, take 5 minutes to empty the dishwasher.

• Refrigerator filled with rotting food. Overworked staff operating on limited sleep has chronic short-term memory loss causing individuals to forget their leftover carryout food from the night before. Or legitimate scientific experiment to see which decomposes faster: pizza, hummus or grilled cheese.

Solution: Assign a department to empty the refrigerator on a monthly basis, provide rubber gloves, and hold a purge party.

• Microwave with stalactites of tomato sauce, vegetable soup and yellow residue of undetermined origin. Lack of pride in place caused by dissatisfaction with deadlines and/or office mates. Or lack of paper towels, plastic wrap or other materials to place over plates and bowls of food.

Solution: Dampen a sponge or paper towel, and stick it in the microwave for 30 seconds. The steam will loosen the stalactites, and you can use sponge or paper towel to wipe out the interior. Oh, it will be hot, so be careful. If using a sponge, run it through the dishwasher. and make sure there’s a stock of paper towels and plastic wrap to place over food. Shower caps work, too, but only if they’re not used as shower caps.

So what’s the moral of the story? When you consider hiring a marketing communications firm, be sure to visit the offices of prospective marketing partners. And if your hosts offer you a cup of coffee, glass of water or can of soda, be sure to follow them into the kitchen.

Rich Gilroy, LeapFrog Solutions Account Director  and author of this article, has served as project manager, creative director and copywriter at various advertising, marketing and public relations firms, none of which had kitchens as tidy as that of LeapFrog Solutions. At home, he is charged with loading the dishwasher, making coffee, folding the whites, and most fun of all, scooping the litter box. Always in that order.

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