FEATURE THE NEXT BIG VEND Q:
Do you think that people in general will be happy to return to the office?
AW: I know I will. Talk about ‘Zoom fatigue’. I want my home to be ‘home’, not an annex of the office. People are naturally sociable creatures and we’ve missed the physical proximity of working with colleagues. You only realise how important those water cooler or coffee machine moments are when they no longer happen. Having said that, you can understand that some people are anxious about going back, consequently many businesses have made workplace wellbeing a top priority.
You can see this illustrated in the leveraging of the collaborative spaces in the office: they are being upgraded to improve an employee’s break time or break out experience. You’re likely to see much more for coffee machines that offer household name brands and coffee- shop quality in the office today than you would, say, just a couple of years ago.
As people start to return to work, they are looking at the office environment differently to how they did previously and this creates new dynamics for retaining good staff and attracting new talent.
Q: Q:
Is coffee quality genuinely a consideration when employees assess the ambience of a workspace?
AW: Absolutely. Coffee is a central part of most workplace interactions and good coffee adds value to those experiences, creating a tangible sense of wellbeing.
The recent UK Vending Industry 2020 Census found that many employers were looking to ‘enhance their
facilities’ to improve the break time experience. Does that correlate with your recent personal experience?
AW: It does and as I said before, we are already seeing positive changes implemented. Lockdown gave us an opportunity to take a long look at our business. Consequently, we’ve broadened and enhanced our offer to reflect the changing demands of consumers. We’ve added value across our entire offer, for instance by up-grading our portfolio and by adding top-quality bean-to-cup and capsule products to our offer.
Q:
Do you think employee expectations have changed as a direct consequence of habits formed during
lockdown?
AW: Yes, especially those of people who have a comfortable home, a space that can be dedicated to work and a serious coffee machine in the kitchen. They’re asking themselves why they should subject
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themselves to a commute, when the last 18 months or so have convinced them that it’s unnecessary. To overcome that reticence, employers are now concentrating on improving the office experience, in much the same way as retail premises or leisure destinations have always done, to encourage people to come in.
The issue of mental health has come to the fore during lock down and personal wellbeing has become a top priority. It means that the workplace will become a more supportive environment. Coffee breaks have been identified by many employers as a target for improvement, because quite frankly, providing a better breaktime experience is one of the simplest ways in which an employer can demonstrate that the health and wellbeing of staff really is a business priority.
Q:
What would be your advice to business leaders looking to make the most of their office space?
AW: Meeting spaces will become more important than ever. When people get together in a comfortable environment, over a cup of coffee, that’s when the creative juices begin to flow. For those businesses who are adopting hybrid working, with people in the office less frequently than before, it really is crucial that when people do come together, it’s a positive experience.
My advice to employers is to create a coffee corner, a soft collaboration area somewhere in the workplace and say to people: “When you’re at work, you can enjoy a good cup of coffee in comfortable surroundings”. And upgrading the
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What can employers do to welcome people back welcome people back to the office? Refreshment services, such as vending and coffee machines, are set to become the focus of office interaction. As an expert in the office coffee services sector, we asked Ashley Weller, UK Market Director at Lavazza Professional, for his thoughts.
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