Big thought. There are two who have just announced their departure, and now, less than ten minutes later, watch in hand, the first messages arrive to invite you to participate in the kitty of starters. If we have worked a little with the first, we can hardly see what the second looks like. Small discreet call to a person of his service to know if he was appreciated. It remains to wonder about the sum. Neither Croesus nor stingy, you have to stay in a kind of average, because the software spy indicates to the penny how much everyone gives and this provides a reason for discussion to the self-proclaimed expert accountants option hunters of gifts. Not being either the first or the last, after 26 reminders, is an art, a ritual codified under the gaze of all. When it’s a chef who packs his cards, there are two schools: those who superbly ignore reminder emails in “go… goodbye! We won’t see each other again”, and those who want, until the end, remain deferential to their hierarchy. What complexity! And what about the drink imposed on us when we have sport at the same time? “The ‘pot culture’ is very French, but, like everything, too many pots kills the pot”, analyzes Tania Mintsa, consultant chief happiness officer (CHO, Corporate Happiness Manager).
A formidable social control
“JC de la compta is retiring? Maryline is celebrating her 50th birthday? Aurélien had a little fourth? Maria is a grandmother?… Let’s pot!” describes the expert. Indeed, everything is a pretext to solicit the purse, but, if the intention to please or to pay homage is laudable and shows a collective benevolence towards the person celebrated, the systematic and obligatory side makes it a constraint. . A kind of formidable social control, so much it is knitted with good intentions. It is the perversity of a good action based on the general interest, the affirmed cohesion that must above all not be upset, under penalty of being blacklisted in a “surveillance of the deviant” way. Always vipers watching. What about free will? What about freedom? “It is essential to know that participation in kitties and pots is not compulsory. It is important to remember this, so that no employee feels uncomfortable”, replies Tania Mintsa. Participating in a pot and/or a kitty means participating in improving team cohesion. Certainly. But what attitude to adopt if you do not know the person? If we have no affinity with it or if, quite simply, we do not have the means to take out a coin or a note? “She works hard for the moneyso hard for it, honey, sang Donna Summer, justifying the lifestyle of her heroine. It’s a sacrifice working day to day, for little money, just tips for pay…” “Don’t panic, you won’t go to hell for non-participation!” confirms the CHO, which campaigns for guiltlessness. “The oversolicitation of collaborators tends to disengage them completely from the cause. Organizers are advised to make it clear that participation is on a voluntary basis and that it can be anonymous. This way the person will not feel judged if she hasn’t put her hand in her pocket, whatever the reason.”
Find other ways to celebrate
Of course, it would be inappropriate to go to the other extreme: that of letting the colleague leave without a sign, or even, as in the film Brazilian, forget even its existence. There are obviously alternatives to pots and jackpots: you still have to imagine them and implement them. “Why not simply wish a departure or an event by doing a collective action instead of a kitty? For example, involving the digital department to create an insert in the internal newsletter, or even posting an article enhancing in the break room in full view of everyone, redecorate the person’s office with Post-it notes…” suggests Tania Mintsa. An A3 sheet with the dedications of all those who have worked with, or simply appreciated, the person who is leaving is an original way to personalize their departure. As for the pots that thrill those who will have to clean up downstream and, upstream, those who put the pressure on themselves to count the number of peanuts brought back to the sips of alcohol or soft drinks… Why not take a trip a few ones, out of the company, without a viper and without a general press release? Just offer a coffee to the starter. “Of course, a kitty and a pot from time to time, it’s very nice. The whole thing is to stay within reason and to respect everyone’s choices”, underlines the expert. Liberty, darling liberty…