As businesses continue to welcome employees back to the workplace, it may be time to reevaluate how they are being taken care of with workplace amenities. Following an extended remote or limited capacity work schedule, the refreshments space will be an essential tool to help employees reacquaint and readjust. Maybe now is the time to rethink your office setup. Here are some things to consider when planning to build a better breakroom for your employees.
What Does Your Space Say?
The most important question you should ask yourself when building a better breakroom is, “how does this space make me feel?” Above all else, this place should serve as a momentary escape for those who enter. The breakroom sets the tone in the morning, and can lift morale in visits throughout the workday.
If your breakroom consists of one coffee pot and a box of tea, there may be room for improvement. People are impacted by their settings more than many may realize. The more a breakroom has to offer employees, the happier they will be to come to work each day. Even the worst days can many times be remedied with your favorite snacks and drinks.
Go Touchless
One of the biggest reservations people will have when returning to the office is the heightened level of safety and cleanliness they have become accustomed to in the last year. One of the most impressive pieces of office innovation pushed forward by COVID, is touchless technology in coffee and beverage machines. Now, from the comfort of a smartphone app, employees can enjoy their favorite beverages made exactly how they like them, without having to press any buttons.
Recognizable Brands
The most common complaint with less than ideal breakroom conditions is poor selection. In 2021, coffee and tea is about the experience and the feelings that brands evoke. When employees don’t find the brand selection they are craving, it can result in more folks leaving the office for coffee runs.
Innovative products from top brands like Starbucks, La Colombe, Stumptown, Lavazza, Joffrey’s, Lipton and Bigelow will keep employees in the office and excited about coming in early to fix their favorite beverage. Happy and caffeinated employees is a win-win.
How About Snacks?
Providing snacks, healthy or otherwise, is an easy way to keep employees fueled and working their best each and every day. From chips, to bars, to fruit, a quick pick-me-up can curb that afternoon crash, and sustain productivity throughout the work day.
Snacks also work as a great welcome back token of appreciation as employees return to work. Nothing puts a smile on people’s faces like a selection of their favorite office snacks they have gone so long without. There are some great pre-packaged snack box options available to businesses that make showing gratitude, easy.
Something Fun
Last but not least, your breakroom should be a place people want to be. All of the actions that take place in the breakroom directly correlate to employee engagement and appreciation for their employer, so why not show employees they are valued? Fun additions like nitro cold brew kegs, games, televisions, and more stimulate the senses and allow for decompression.
With so many options, creating a better breakroom may seem daunting. Luckily, Aramark Refreshments is passionate about creating inspired spaces that foster employee engagement and promote happiness for all of our clients. Let us help build your perfect breakroom.
