Vending Machines Do Not Impact Employee Morale, Productivity and The Workplace Environment… Not So Fast My Friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By GARY JOYNER

That statement is about as far from being the truth as the earth is from the sun. Since vending machines cost your company nothing, your vending company typically installs their vending machines at no charge in exchange for being able to offer their cold and hot drinks, snacks, and food items to your employees when they go on break, visit the breakroom, employee lounge, or cafeteria.

The level of service your current vending provider offers to your employees in many cases can and does have a direct effect on how their attitude. Poor service can turn a positive attitude into one in which your employees become angry and upset if the vending machines take their money and they do not get the product they just paid for.

Our research and first-hand experience in working with literally hundreds of customers reveals that the overwhelming number of those clients have the HR Department handle refunds when their vending machines take employees’ money, and they must handle upset employees who feel they have been ripped off again and again.

Here are just four examples of how a vending machine has cost team members their job, and the company must go through the costly and time-consuming process of hiring someone to replace an employee who was terminated due to their behavior over the problem vending machines.

USA Today News/ the Des Moines Register Feb 20, 2014 - “Man fired after using forklift to free stuck candy bar-it’s a familiar tableau: A vending machine candy bar dangles on a spiral hook, tantalizingly out of reach and refusing to drop. For most of us, that mini drama usually ends in defeat. But not for Robert McKevitt of Spirit Lake whose victory over an uncooperative vending machine ultimately cost him his job.

McKevitt used an 8,000-pound forklift in attempt to retrieve a Twix candy bar from a vending machine- the Iowa National Guardsman was fired five days after the incident – a judge denied his unemployment benefits claim.

ABC7 Eyewitness News in Chicago on Oct 11, 2012 - Video shows a North Carolina woman setting a vending machine on fire- surveillance video shows Debra Johnson setting a soda machine on fire after it ate up her dollar. She is then seen lighting a newspaper on fire and shoving it into the machine. She is now facing two felony charges.

CBS2 Chicago on March 1, 2012 - Workers charged for shaking snacks out of vending machine- Some Southwest suburban workers who got the munchies are now in trouble with the law. A picture of the snack machine where the items were stolen has a post-it note on the front of the machine. It is not unusual for people to leave the vending company a note about losing their money in the machines. As WBBM News Radio Regine Schlesinger reports, the eight workers were on the night shift between 6 PM and midnight February 21 at an unspecified Bolingbrook business in the 800 block of Remington Boulevard.

Buzzfeed News.com June 21, 2017 - a bunch of CIA contractors got fired for stealing snacks from vending machines- the thefts took place in the Fall of 2012 and continued through March 2013 according to a declassified Office of Inspector General Report from October 2013.

Needless to say, the amount of money it cost these various companies to replace all these employees must be in the tens of thousands of dollars, and the HR department would not have to go through all of the hassle if their vending company had “state of the art” electronic merchandisers equipped with guaranteed product delivery systems.

These four examples most likely are just the tip of the iceberg to HR departments having to be the go-between when it comes to unhappy employees’ complaints with vending machine issues.

Have any of your staff and employees ever said, “Why doesn’t the vending company ask us what we want in our vending machines?” The typical answer most vending machine route personnel says, “We put in what our boss says to put in.” If this sounds like what you may have heard on more than one occasion from your present vending provider, maybe you should consider a vending company who periodically offers product survey forms that allow your team members to have a loud voice as to what they want to purchase.

There can be no doubt that a vending company can and does have a dramatic influence on the attitude of your employees and their job performance. Since vending service for your employees cost your company zero-nada-zilch-nothing, in most cases, it is almost never at the top of senior management’s “to do list.” However, it is very important to those employees who have been heard to say, “The company wants the best computers, software, work environment, health care, and other benefits that impact our well-being. But they really don’t seem to give a darn about the vending machines that we use daily.”

HR professionals are looking straight down the “barrel” of a golden opportunity to increase employee morale, productivity, and engagement when you choose Advantage Refreshments as your employee refreshment provider.

If your current vending company does not do things for your employees such as having “buy one get one free “ vending coupons, free $2-$5$10-$20-$50-and $100 bills give away in your vending machines, two for a dollar items ( even in today’s inflationary economy,) free scratchoff lottery tickets, and many other promotions designed to have a positive impact on your employees benefits, CALL GARY JOYNER ON HIS CELL PHONE AT 828-291-8323.

YOUR Employees WILL BE GLAD YOU DID!