Your Employees Need More Cowbell
Even Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken from the Saturday Night Live skit know, “we need more cowbell”. (SEE THE VIDEO HERE)
Okay, that was somewhat funny but how does it connect to your employees?
Let me take you on a journey to discover the power of the cowbell and the collective activity of making noise as a group.
Okay, yes back in the 1500’s cowbells were reported to “chase away evil – even sickness – and attract goodness.” 1 These could certainly be positive properties of the cowbell, but I am sure this effect hasn’t been scientifically proven… but it does seem, some of the properties enabled it to catch on.
Evolving as a useful tool to locate cows, “farmers put small cowbells on the cows in the summer pastures to help locate their animals”.1 Okay we are still not there yet in our journey so don’t jump to the conclusion that we should put cowbells on employees. Seriously don’t do this.
Cowbells are not without controversy. In a study out of Switzerland, it was found that wearing metal cowbells, “wasn't so pleasing to the animals”.2 Again, employees wouldn’t like them either.
Now very popular at alpine sporting events, cowbells are used by fans to cheer on the supported teams. The use of cowbells this way got its start as it was said because, “mittens don’t clap”.3 If you want to offer encouragement to your team making noise is a good way to show you are together in the challenge.
Okay, we are now getting there in our journey with the cowbell and employees. Making collective noise to cheer on the team (and maybe attracting goodness).
Today, cowbells, bells in general are part of celebration and cheering on the team. Weddings, parades, races, challenges, bells are used for celebration to highlight something special happened and to bond a collective group together. For example, you will find cowbells in pride parades around many parts of the world in June as people celebrate the achievements of the collective movement of 2SLGBTQI+ 4 and highlighting of the continued struggles as the movement moves forward together.
The sounds of bells always highlight celebration and this is where employees come in. Cowbells don’t have to ring all the time to let employees know the are together in the common cause. You don’t necessarily want bells to be ringing all day in the work environment…
BUT, if every employee has a bell in hand or on the desk or in a drawer from a time when they did ring them together, that symbol will always represent celebration and connectedness to fellow employees.
This is the power of employees having more cowbell.
It will also be good to hear the occasional bell ring when other celebrations happen too and there will be many with the employees connected on the common cause and celebrating together.
So, as you can see, we are big fans of the cowbell and we have sourced the perfect one for all employees to celebrate with. Brand this cowbell to match your celebration and every time an employee glances at it or rings it your team will connect.
Here is the perfect cowbell for employees: 8'' Yellow Cowbell w/Handle
So, this is the end of our journey with the cowbell and the beginning of your journey with the cowbell and employees. Celebrate and celebrate often. We need more cowbell.
Please do reach out to our team at Durham Promotional Products for items like this or other creative solutions to engage and connect with your workforce and customers. We excel at creating smiles, increasing productivity, and providing overall stronger corporate cultural bonds with our creative solutions.
Sources:
1. https://www.gstaadlife.com/2018/09/magic-bells.html
2. https://www.thedodo.com/cows-would-probably-prefer-les-738768787.html
3. https://www.cnn.com/2012/12/19/sport/skiing-cowbell-noise-sport/index.html
4. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/maple-leaf/defence/2023/06/pride-season-2023-celebrating-2slgbtqiplus-persons-canada.html
5. https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/pride-season.html