Whether you’re a coffee aficionado and you know your Robusta from your Arabica, like a latte or an espresso or you just need a dose of caffeine with a cup of instant, many of us appreciate the benefits of coffee. In the workplace coffee is an essential for many people but does that mean, as an employer, you should provide it? There are a number of good reasons why it might actually be beneficial to do so.
Making your staff feel valued
Today we recognise that providing a positive working environment that caters to the needs of employees has a big role to play in making people feel valued. Staff who feel valued tend to be more engaged and productive. Providing coffee is another small way in which a business can make the lives of its staff easier and more enjoyable. From catering to those employees who are late and never have time to make coffee at home, to making it fresh using a coffee machine and filling the office with a delicious smell, there are many ways in which coffee in the workplace can make it feel like a more positive place to be.
Avoid wasted time
Coffee in the workplace is a convenience and ensures that employees don’t waste their time going out to collect it. Especially if your staff are big coffee drinkers and not inclined to bring their own brew to work you could be losing a lot of valuable work time during the day to employees who keep going out to refuel. And they’ll appreciate the savings they’ll make with this perk.
Bringing people together
Coffee is a daily event and many people tend to develop habits around its consumption. If you set up a breakout area in the office and provide coffee free of charge, you’ll create a space for people to come together. Chatting over a coffee could lead to the formation of new friendships and new ideas, resolving tensions or just giving your staff the opportunity to learn more about each other in a more relaxed environment. It can create the kind of essential social networks that support a more productive and innovative working atmosphere.
The hospitality element
From candidates arriving for interview to clients who are in your office for a meeting, being able to offer coffee provides an instant element of hospitality. If you want to make visitors to your premises feel welcome and well looked after then being able to offer a coffee is going to be essential.
Improving performance
Coffee contains caffeine, which is a stimulant. When it’s drunk in the right amount it can help to make the mind more alert and improve concentration, leading to higher levels of productivity and better performance. Few people today are going to overindulge on coffee to the point where it negatively affects their ability to work. By providing free coffee what you’re likely to achieve instead is giving your employees a tool to help improve focus and get more done in the average working day. And there’s always decaffeinated coffee!
These are just some of the reasons why it can be beneficial to provide coffee in the workplace.
