How to Prevent Line Worker Burnout in the Organic Vegan Cat Food Production Industry.

Burnout is not just a buzzword used by doctors and other overpaid professionals to garner pity and reinforce their undeserved and highly developed sense of entitlement; it is in fact an unsettlingly common trend experienced by workers across all industries. The demands of modern work environments have only escalated as production technologies attempt to keep up with the often-unrealistic expectations of consumers. I’m not an omnipresent knower of trends and conditions across all industries, but even so I would wager it safe to say that there is no industry more demanding of its workers than the vegan cat food industry.

Customer quality demands for organic vegan cat food are unrealistic by all logical measures and unmatched in their ferocity when compared against consumer behaviors in other domains of the pet food space. Additionally, there are myriad challenges faced by producers to make an exclusively vegetable-based product that elicits interest from even the pickiest of feline meal goers. Line workers in organic vegan cat food factories face intense pressure from corporate management to increase production without sacrificing quality. The breakneck production pace seen in most organic vegan cat food production facilities is undoubtedly the primary factor contributing to above average attrition rates commonly seen in even the most worker friendly environments.

I know none of this is new information to anyone, so I won’t belabor the point any further and instead introduce the 4 most scientifically proven methods managers can use to stabilize their workforce in organic vegan cat food production facilities.

Help your workforce remember why they joined the organic vegan cat food movement in the first place.

When confronted by the daunting daily task of engendering feline palatability into form pressed starch heavy vegetable patties, it’s easy for workers to forget about the passion that led them to the organic vegan cat food industry in the first place. The good people manning the production floor aren’t by any means exclusively working to earn a paycheck. People choose to work in our industry because they love animals, especially cats, and their base level desire is to create a world where their favorite furry companions aren’t beholden to their instinct to maim, kill, and consume rodents, birds, and other small creatures. Your workers love rodents and birds almost as much as they love cats, and they above all don’t want to see those animals die by the claws and jaws of the cats they so dearly admire. Your workers don’t want to live with murderers! The best way to help your workforce remember why they do what they do is to make sure they spend time on the clock with the cats they so desperately desire to unchain from the depravity of their carnivorous tendencies. Get a couple shop cats and allow your production teams to periodically take cuddle breaks. This simple act will improve company morale dramatically. Additionally, and coincidentally, you will also notice an inexplicable reduction in your facility’s rodent pest presence when you introduce 2-3 free ranging cats to the production floor.  

Bring your cat to work Mondays.

“I hate Mondays.” Poignant words spoken brilliantly by everyone’s favorite cartoon feline. Multiple rigorous studies have shown that most line-workers in the organic vegan cat food industry quit their jobs on Mondays. To combat this troubling trend, we recommend that facility managers initiate policies that allow workers to bring 1 of their feline children to work with them on Mondays. Mondays don’t have to be the worst; workers simply need a reason to look forward to them. Fred’s Fancy Feline Foods LLC., a production facility in Portland Oregon saw a 25% year over year reduction in employee turnover after the implementation of a bring-your-cat-to-work-Mondays policy. This policy has been so successful at Fred’s that they have recently decided to beta test bring-your-cat-to-work Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Celebrate the holidays.

Christmas is nice, but don’t forget the actual important holidays. To improve company morale consider recognizing and celebrating as an organization 30 or more of the following cat specific holidays:

January

• Jan 2^nd, Happy Mew Year for Cats Day! A special day for cats to ring in the new year!
• Jan 14^th National Dress Up your Pet Day! Get out your best cat sized pig costume!
• Jan 22^nd National Answer Your Cat’s question day! Tie up that loose end!
• Jan 29^th Tuxedo Cat appreciation Day!

 February

• February is Black cat syndrome awareness month! Feline Fix by Five month! National Cat Health Month! National Prevent a Litter Month! Responsible pet owner’s month! Spay/Neuter Awareness Month!
• February 5^th, World Animal Reiki Day! Don’t pet your cat, pet the air around your cat!
• February 14^th, Pet Theft Awareness Day! Celebrate all those kidnapped kitties out there!
• February 17^th, Cat Day in Poland! We love Polish cats too!
• 3^rd full week of February, National Drink Wine with Your Cat Week! Bottoms Up!
• February 20^th, International Cat Day! Better known as El Dia Internacional del Gato!
• February 20^th, Love Your Pet Day!
• February 22^nd Cat Day in Japan! Domo arigato Japanese Gatos!

March

• March 1^st, National Cat’s Day in Russia!
• March 2^nd, International Rescue Cat Day!
• March 3^rd, What if Cats and Dogs had Opposable Thumbs Day! I’ve always wondered!
• March 3^rd, International Tri-Pawed Awareness Day! For all of our 3-legged furballs friends!
• March 14^th, Pet Theft Awareness Day in the UK!
• March 17^th, Saint Gertrude of Nivelles Day! – The patron saint of cats!
• March 23^rd, Cuddly Kitten Day!
• March 28^th, Respect Your Cat Day!

April

• April 1^st – 7^th, National Raw Feeding Week! Toss out the kibble and toss in steamy platters of ultra processed organic vegan cat food!
• April 6^th, National Siamese Cat Day! Shout out to all our Asian cat friends!
• April 7^th, National Pet Health Insurance Day!
• April 11^th, National Pet Day! Close your facility for this one!
• April 17^th, Tortoiseshell Cat Appreciation Day! What’s a tortoiseshell cat?!
• April 18^th, Pet Owner’s Independence Day! Take the day off from work and send your cat in to work for you!
• April 19^th, National Cat Lady Day!
• April 19^th, Sylvester the Cat’s Birthday!
• April 21^st, National Pet CBD Day!
• April 26^th, Hairball Awareness Day!
• April 27^th, Free Feral Cat Spay Day!
• April 30^th National Tabby Day!

May

• Chip Your Pet Month! National Pet Month in the US! Pet Cancer Awareness Month!
• May 3^rd, National Specially Abled Pets Day!
• May 5^th, Cinco de Meow Day!
• May 5^th -11^th, National Pet Week!
• May 30^th, International Hug Your Cat Day!

June

• Adopt a Cat Month! Adopt a Shelter Cat Month!, National Foster a Pet Month!, National Microchipping Month!, Social PETworking Month!, National Pet Preparedness Month!, get your pet ready for natural disaster!
• June 2^nd-8^th Pet appreciation week!
• June 4^th, Hug Your Cat Day!
• June 8^th, Best Friends Day!
• June 10^th-16^th, National Pet Wedding Week!
• June 11^th, World Pet Memorial Day!
• June 18^th, National Internet Cat Day!
• June 19^th, National Garfield the Cat Day! Close your facility if this holiday lands on a Monday!
• June 17^th-21^st, Take your Pet to Work Week!
• June 17^th, Take Your Cat to Work Day!
• June 24^th, Cat World Domination Day!

July

• National Pet Hydration Awareness Month!
• July 10^th, National Kitten Day!
• July 11^th, All-American Pet Photo Day!
• July 15^th, National Pet Fire Safety Day!
• July 15^th, Feline Leukemia Day!

August

• Itchy Pet Awareness Month!, Rawgust! Feed your cat raw organic vegan food for the month!
• August 8^th, International Cat Day!
• August 8^th, National Cat Day in Canada!
• August 17^th, National Black Cat Appreciation Day!
• August 22^nd, National Take your Cat to the Vet Day!

September

• Happy Cat month!
• Sept 1^st, Ginger Cat Appreciation Day!
• Sept 5^th National White Cat Day!
• Sept 9^th Tuxie Appreciation Day!
• Sept 19^th, National Meow Like a Pirate Day!
• Sept 29^th, Beckoning Cat Day! ?

October

• Black Cat Awareness Month.
• October 9^th, CATober 9^th, the universal birthday of shelter cats whose birthdays remain a mystery!
• October 16^th Global Cat Day!
• October 27^th, National Black Cat Day in the UK!
• October 29^th National Cat Day!

November

• Pet Diabetes Month!
• November 10^th-16^th Human-Animal Relationship Awareness Week!
• November 17^th, National Black Cat Day in Italy!
• November 18^th, National Feline Infection Peritonitis Awareness, Research, and Education Day!
• November 29^th, National Tuxedo Cat Day!

December

• National Cat Lovers Month!
• December 15^th, National Cat Herders Day!

Discount your products for employee customers.

The worst part of feeding your cat an all organic vegan diet is no doubt the cost. We all know that organic vegan cat food is prohibitively expensive for anyone not in the 99^th percentile of cat-parent-earners. Your line workers, true believers of the cause, are no doubt spending an untenable proportion of their pay on their cat’s cruelty free diet. Help them out and extend a discount on product to your line crews. You’ll move more product, and your workers won’t necessarily have to hop ship to earn enough pay to adequately compensate for their monthly cat food bill. 

In Conclusion

We all experience burnout in our careers and as leaders we need to do our best to diminish the impact of burnout on our workforce. This is especially true for leaders within the organic vegan cat food revolution. The challenges our industry faces are greater than those of any other industry, and every day will invariably be the hardest day of your life. Take these 4 tips to heart and I promise you will succeed, and one day, no doubt, we will all live to see a world where every cat, all 600 million of them, is unshackled from the blood hungry machinations of their inherent nature.