The Fruit People have found a way to bring workplace wellness to remote workers and give them a morale boost.
You remember the scene, the corporate workplace of early 2020 was full of all kinds of snacks and perks to make staff feel loved. There was a talent war on, don’t you recall?
But come March everything changed and for office workers across the world remote working has become the new reality. Not only that but increasingly employers – amazed at the cost and productivity benefits but also mammoth task of meeting exacting hygiene standards – are coming around to the idea that remote work will be here to stay.
“Wellbeing packages are a good way to keep that workplace culture going and, in the battle for talent, companies are going to have to find a way to differentiate themselves and give colleagues a boost”
A recent poll by the Institute of Directors in Ireland found that just 12pc of business leaders think their entire staff will revert to working from the office once restrictions are lifted. That said, only 5pc believe all their staff will work remotely in their future.
Fresh thinking
Like most things, the truth will most likely be somewhere in between. The newfound flexibility and productivity will ensure remote working in various forms will be here to stay.
For Dublin-based The Fruit People, a company founded by brothers Barry and Brian Dennis, the sudden onset of lockdown and the shift to home or remote working presented a significant challenge. The business, founded in 2013, had built up a significant business supplying fruit and healthy snacks to more than 1,000 companies of every size, from SMEs to large corporates.
As well as pivoting from delivering fruit to offices to homes instead, The Fruit People also began to sell a range of milk, bread, eggs, breakfast cereals and treats that can be ordered online for home delivery.
However, that by itself wasn’t enough and The Fruit People needed to recapture its traditional office-based market.
As Barry Dennis recalls the light-bulb moment arrived in the form of delivering wellbeing and remote work care packages. Instead of the fruit and snacks being in the offices, they would be sent as care packages by companies to employees.
“We found that the companies we deal with still have budget and were willing to spend on wellbeing packages to support their staff, keep them engaged, show that they care and boost the morale of people.”
“We made the decision that remote working will be part of our everyday lives for the next while and we came up with the option to bring workplace wellness to employees’ homes.”
The company came up with various packages that could be offered to employees that included fruit, healthy treats like nuts as well as bottled water.
Dennis correctly pointed out that for many workers, remote working can present its own set of challenges such as maintaining engagement and keeping morale up.
“So whether you want to boost productivity or just put a smile on your employees’ faces, we have it sorted.”
Dennis said the company has launched the service nationwide.
“The future of workplaces are going to be very different. Various companies are interpreting the future differently and I think ultimately people will want greater flexibility whereby they will work at home a few days per week and be in the office a few days per week.
“While a lot of people like working from home and are happy to do without the commutes I think having the option to go to an office and talk to people is also something they desire.”
Dennis said that The Fruit People have developed a solution for helping companies to show home-based employees they care and they count.
“Before the lockdown, some of the big tech companies were all about the stylish offices, the beanbags, pool tables, etc, but now that everyone is home-bound it is clear that work is work, with the added challenges of not seeing your colleagues, looking after kids and trying to keep engaged.
“These wellbeing packages are a good way to keep that workplace culture going and in the battle for talent companies are going to have to find a way to differentiate themselves and give colleagues a boost.”
Pictured at top: Barry and Brian Dennis
Written by John Kennedy (john.kennedy3@boi.com)
Published: 18 June, 2020
