“I want one of those”

Fairly few children in the UK would have been able to grow up without understanding what Charlie and Chocolate Factory was. Whether it was Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel, the subsequent 1971 film starring Gene Wilder or Tim Burton’s 2005 re-make with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, most will have enjoyed the magical world within. Chocolate rivers, golden eggs, flavoured wallpaper – the very special factory, straight from Dahl’s imagination, had it all.

It also portrayed some very naughty children. Amongst a TV-addicted 12-year-old, a bubblegum-chewing child competitor and an unfortunate glutton, the one that stands out most on my mind is Veruca Salt: the archetype of the spoiled child. Trailed by her super-rich father, she regularly tells him “I want one of those” pointing at whatever new thing she has just seen as they travel around the factory. With Dahl being a writer keen on moral messages it does not, perhaps predictably, end well for Salt. However, for HR, it could well pay to let staff dictate what they want. In this month’s cover feature, we spoke to Ella’s Kitchen, a firm giving staff free reign when it comes to picking what extras they want their workplace to provide. We also look at whether giving staff a shorter working week could benefit both them and the company they work for as well as looking at whether giving autonomy over L&D spend to employees is the best way to improve skills, engagement, and productivity.

Whilst received wisdom is that we withhold from being too selfish, there are voices inside that encourage HR to take let staff have more of what they want for the benefit of the bottom line.

As ever, stay safe and enjoy.

Daniel Cave - Head of Content