What better excuse to eat pizza than National Pizza Day, celebrated annually on 9th February.
National Pizza Day is an opportunity to officially enjoy one of the most popular and iconic dishes in the world, a day which has become enshrined in the BE Offices community events programme, with all our clients invited to join us for a complimentary pizza lunch.
While no one knows when National Pizza Day was created, we do know that pizza was invented in Naples, Italy in the 10th century. The original pizza was a dish created by the Romans out of placenta bread covered in various layers of herbs, sauce and cheese. While those early dishes were technically pizzas, what people would recognise as the modern pizza wasn’t invented until the 18th century, when the citizens of Naples began to create flat bread dishes covered in garlic, basil, cheese and eventually tomatoes. During the 19th century, Italian emigrants took this dish with them to the United States and it became popular when service men returned from World War II.
Today there are many disputes about the best pizza, with the main argument being whether pineapple belongs on a pizza or not! No matter your preference, there’s one thing we can all agree on; pizza is one of the best culinary inventions and pepperoni tops the list as being the favourite.
It might come as no surprise that when it comes to motivating employees in the workplace, offering them free pizza will almost always perk them up! According to research, it is also likely to actually boost productivity levels.
A study conducted by psychologist Dan Ariely observed the productivity patterns of workers in a factory who were offered incentives for better work at the beginning of the week. The three options on offer were a good pizza, a small cash bonus or a compliment from the boss.
Free pizza was the preferred incentive, followed by a compliment for their work. Surprisingly, the option of a small financial reward was chosen by only a few people. The study highlighted the fact that money is not the biggest motivator in the workplace, and food overtook money in inspiring people. It also emphasised the point that giving intrinsic motivations or image boosting tools such as compliments can actually help people work harder and more efficiently. Overall, compliments and food almost had the same power in motivating employees.
With this research in mind, productivity levels at our centres are set to be off the scale this Wednesday afternoon.
By Michelle Winton, Community & Events Manager
