VENDING & WATER COOLERS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: SNACKING ENCOURAGES IDEAS AND INTERACTION
We all know it’s hard to focus when your stomach is grumbling, but the negative effects of those mid-morning pangs on the work-rate of employees can be costly to your business. Giles Mitchell of Offi ce Pantry explains how to keep motivation and innovation high with some top tips and tasty treats.
How much do you value your staff? Now, I know that your fi rst answer here is “immensely”, and why wouldn’t it be? Without them, you wouldn’t be where you are today.
But saying you value your staff and actually creating an engaged and valued culture are two very different things.
Staggeringly, although I’m sure 100% of CEOs will say that they have a cohesive team, research from Gallup found that 83% of UK companies have disengaged staff.
Gallup’s research also found conclusive evidence that an engaged staff has a 240% comparative boost in performance-related business outcomes. I’m not certain exactly what the term “performance-related business outcomes” means, but I interpret it that, Team Engaged are going to beat Team Disengaged to the tune of 240%, week-in, week-out. That means Team Engaged keep and capture more business and, come the end of the year, they will have larger Christmas bonuses making them even more engaged.
If you look to the Googles and Facebooks of this world you will have no-doubt heard about their swish and funky offi ces, complete with slides, swimming pools and basketball courts. Although these one-upmanship add-ons are lovely for architect’s portfolios, arguably, they don’t produce greater engagement alone.
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In fact, those fi rms all started by taking a leaf out of Maslow’s book (Hierarchy of Needs, 1943) by appeasing the fi rst stage of human needs; food and drink. By providing free food, these fi rms remove the need for their staff to worry about hunger, especially come those 11 o’clock pangs.
What’s more, these fi rms recognise the value of unintentional interactions. They don’t provide a hotel room service-esque system of desk food delivery to keep everyone working. Instead, they provide open spaces with comfortable seating; lots of natural light, and room to mingle. Their food zones enable collaboration to occur naturally.
Therein lies the most important point; that these spaces enable unexpected conversations to occur. The fi nance manager can mingle with the sales associate, the new analyst with the head of their department, and even the CEO with the intern. This engages individuals and stimulates ideas. Food zones are for conversation and innovation not just an area for people to grab a free snack.
So how can you create these spaces without having an architect redesign your offi ce from scratch? Well the best place to start is with the little things that attract people to communal areas.
1. Make sure the kitchen is a clean space: Clear surfaces and clean sinks.
Remove clutter and encourage people to leave it as they found it. No one wants to wash up other people’s dirty crockery.
2. Have a notice board that is regularly updated:
Perhaps with birthday updates or inspirational quotes. At the very least, keeping everyone in-the- know to the company’s activities maintains employee involvement.
3. Install a water cooler:
For those fabled water cooler moments.
4. Have a suggestion box:
You’ll be amazed at the ideas that come from within your team. There may even be a passionate pastry chef in your midst, willing to organise a monthly cake club.
5. Buy tea, coffee & milk:
Give it away free to staff. People will naturally make tea and coffee for others, plus kettles take time to boil meaning conversation is inevitable.
6. Offer free food:
1 in 2 people leave the offi ce for at least 20 minutes every day to fi nd a snack, according to Forbes.
If you want to value this impact objectively, what costs your business more: 20 minutes of every other employee’s time (so 10 minutes each) or buying a £1 snack for everyone? I can answer that for you: the
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