Rico Bosco Is Actively Endangering The Health And Safety Of The Employees Of Barstool Sports To Satisfy His Own Agenda
The topic of the office temperature has been an ongoing battle within the walls of Barstool Sports for years, but moreso now that we have rearranged the NY office and removed the majority of desks/furniture. Let's take a moment to look at the facts as told to us by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration by way of Fox Business:
It may sound crazy, but some offices are colder in the summer than in the winter thanks to blasting AC--and this could be bad for worker productivity.
A study from Cornell University found that when an office's temperature was raised to 77 degrees from 68, typing errors fell by 44% and output increased by roughly 150%.
The study states that “at 77 degrees Fahrenheit, the workers were keyboarding 100% of the time with a 10% error rate, but at 68 degrees, their keying rate went down to 54% of the time with a 25% error rate.”
A simple concept - if the office is too hot, people aren't productive. If it's too cold, people aren't productive. A happy medium must be found that is both reasonable, and SAFE. Yesterday, as the President of the Barstool New York office, I took matters into my own hands, and warned all from changing the thermostat to anything other than 68 degrees.
In response to this selfless stand, employee Rico Bosco decided to take matters into his own hands and actively freeze out those who "can't handle the cold," setting the office thermostat to a bone chilling 62 degrees. Air conditioning on, blasting. I called into Barstool Radio to explain to those who have lesser intelligence, the inner workings of the thermostat and the dangers these frigid temperatures can pose:
The question remains - is this all a funny joke? Or is Rico Bosco actually endangering the health and wellness of the rest of the employees within the walls of Barstool Sports? Thankfully the good people over at the OHSA have provided us with a few more facts on how temperature can affect your mood:
Temperature Impacts Movement. Cold temperatures cause our muscles to tense and hurts concentration. This is exacerbated when you are hit with the shock of a frigid office after walking in from the heat outside.
Rico Bosco wishes his coworkers have tense muscles and disabled concentration? Interesting, considering we are in the middle of the most important months at Barstool Sports. I don't think Dave Portnoy, the inventor of Barstool Sports, would be very happy to hear that his employees can't concentrate.
Temperature Impacts Mood. Our brains associate temperature with feelings: The warmer you are, the more friendly you will likely be. Biological and psychological researchers have shown that cold tends to be associated with feelings of isolation whereas warmth tends to be associated with desire for connection.
Isolation? Anger? Sounds like a bad thing at a content company, where the majority of the work is collaborative! I understand Rico works through his own anger issues, but that doesn't mean he has to bring the rest of the company down with him.
Temperature Impacts Pace. Because we are wired to seek warmth, we will likely be in more of a rush to get to a warmer place, which means we will spend less time in casual conversations and meaningful interactions along the way. This can hinder the development of relationships.
More in a rush to get to a warmer place…wow, sounds like Rico doesn't want people to come to, or stay in the office? I think we all know what happens when you don't come in. Rico wants ZERO conversing, and is actively standing in the way of anything "meaningful" coming out of Barstool Sports. Again, I'm not sure Dave Portnoy would like to hear that his employees are too cold to speak to each other!
The solution is simple. Do we want this company to remain one of the best in the business? Or do we want to freeze out the people who want to work, but can't, simply because this "man" has taken it upon himself to dictate who is "worthy" of productivity? Lots to think about.