How many of you started your day with a coffee? Did you put the kettle on as soon as you got up, or maybe you grabbed one on the way into work?
There’s probably a cup sat in front of you as you read this. We are a nation that runs on coffee, with billions of pounds being spent in dedicated coffee shops every year. Given that coffee culture is now a mainstay of the nation, it stands to reason that it can be seen as a huge benefit to have good quality coffee on offer at work.
Adding a spoonful of freeze-dried coffee to a mug of hot water is now sneered upon by many of the coffee snobs among us, and employers are starting to think more carefully about what refreshments they offer and how they offer them. It is no longer something that is treated as an after-thought and instead plays an active part in company morale and cohesion.
The coffee break
Whilst many employers might believe that all of their staff want pay rises to keep them happy, many studies have shown that it is actually the smaller perks that make them want to stay with a certain business. Many see the quality of the refreshments that they are offered as one of those important perks, so the coffee you serve can play a huge part in talent retention.
By providing good quality coffee at work, you can foster a feeling of positivity amongst the workforce, as well as make a good impression on clients and visitors too. Surveys have shown that providing things such as high-quality coffee allows workers to feel that the powers above them care about their wellbeing and increases their loyalty towards the business that they work for.
By transforming the coffee break of those who work for you, it is also possible to stimulate thinking and leave people feeling more creative and productive. This is more to do with the fact that staff are able to re-energise and take a more meaningful break than it is to do with the caffeine that they consume.
Break time can be seen as lost working hours by many employers, but this is not always the case. When staff come together over a coffee break, they are able to forge better relationships with their colleagues and managers, making them more productive when they return to their desks.
It allows staff to conduct informal meetings, share ideas and solve problems, all without even realising that is what they are doing. It becomes work without feeling like work and can leave employees fired up and ready to continue with their task.
Adding coffee to the workplace
There are many ways to make sure that you can offer good quality coffee to your workplace. It can be done through dedicated hot drinks machines and vending machines which make the process easy and can deliver barista style lattes, cappuccinos and flat whites to make sure that there is something to suit every taste with minimal cost and effort from you.
It is said that the simplest solutions are often the best ones and switching to good quality coffee can be one of the smallest fixes for some of the biggest issues. Coffee might not have seemed to be a big consideration within many businesses until now, but it is part of establishing the culture of a business.
Happier and more satisfied workers create a business that is more productive and successful as well as one which retains the very best staff and attracts the best talent from elsewhere. All from a single cup of coffee.
Emma Preece is the general manager at R+R Hub, a leading supplier of healthy food and micro market solutions to offices and businesses.
