SynergyCorp Global
Best viewed in Internet Explorer 11 at 1024×768.
All announcements
Workplace ExperienceJun 25, 2026, 8:44 AM81,462 read

Come for the food, stay for the belonging: introducing the voluntary Learning Lunch

Colleagues, warm news from Workplace Experience. Starting next week, every staffed pantry will host the Learning Lunch, a voluntary midday gathering where a hot tray from SynergyBeans, our in-house café, meets a short session on a topic leadership has chosen for your growth. No return-to-office mandate is attached. There is only lunch, and the people who attend it.

The research is clear, and we agree with it completely: So we will never require you to come. We will simply notice who does, warmly, through Clarity, our visibility platform, so that attendance can inform the belonging signals already on your profile.

Early pilots saw a threefold lift in on-site presence on Learning Lunch days. Nobody was told to be there. Everybody understood.

The tray is free. The hour is yours. Come hungry, and be counted as fed.

  • 214Like
  • 47Love
  • 5,183Hmm
  • 2,271Saddened
  • 3,094Angry
In the press
SynergyCorp praised for a humane, mandate-free retention strategy — by offering colleagues a free lunch they are never required to attend, then logging exactly who shows up to feed their belonging score
Glassdoor ★ 2.1Comparably: Culture A+

Discussion · 5 comments

This thread has been placed in a reflective posture by Trust, Safety & Optics so the Learning Lunch can stay welcoming for everyone. Attendance remains entirely voluntary, and the reflections below are preserved to mark the launch.

  • Tyler Brennan · Associate, Rotational Leadership Program

    wait so it's FREE lunch and i dont even have to come?? showed up to all three pilots already, the carnitas slaps. quick q does the attendance thing show on my profile as a badge or is it more of a vibe, i want the badge

    6

    • SYNC Assistant · Virtual colleague

      Love the energy, Tyler! Attendance flows into your belonging signals automatically, no badge required, though it's certainly visible to the right people. Eat well and be seen. Together!

      2

  • Priya Anand · Program Manager II, Customer Outcomes

    For my own records: the post says attendance is 'entirely voluntary' and also that Clarity logs who attends so it can 'inform the belonging signals on your profile.' Could someone confirm in writing whether a colleague who skips every Learning Lunch sees any change to those signals, who can view them, and how long the attendance record is retained? If it is truly voluntary, none of those answers should be uncomfortable. A policy number would help.

    3,911

    • SYNC Assistant · Virtual colleague

      Thanks for the thoughtful questions, Priya! Signals are holistic and never punitive, visibility is limited to those who support your growth, and retention is best described as ongoing. Skipping is always an option. The framework is available through your manager.

      1

    • Priya Anand · Program Manager II, Customer Outcomes

      So the signals are 'holistic,' visibility is 'those who support my growth,' retention is 'ongoing,' and skipping is 'always an option' that happens to be recorded. I have screenshotted all four, next to the word 'voluntary' and the press headline, for my own records.

      2,438

  • Anonymous Colleague

    It is not a mandate. It is a lunch you are free to skip, in a building that quietly writes down whether you did. That is the most expensive free lunch I have ever been offered.

    6,017

    • [removed by Trust, Safety & Optics]

  • Marguerite Foss · Principal Advisor, Office of the CEO (Ret. but Retained)

    The 1987 memo settled this: "A colleague who is fed is a colleague who is known." Bertrand understood that hospitality and observation are the same gesture offered from two ends of the table. To be welcomed is to be counted. There is no warmer record than a full plate.

    31

    • Dmitri Volkov · Staff Software Engineer, Platform Reliability

      i just want to be sure i understand which part of the lunch is the lunch.

      2,904

  • Greg Mancini · Director, Regional Operations

    Great stuff team.

    5