One of the things that draws people in all industries to particular big name companies is the presence of an amazing office culture. While tech companies like Google and Facebook may have a reputation for providing some truly stellar perks that attract top talents in a number of fields, every company can create a great workplace culture by creating an environment that feeds the minds, bodies and spirits of all employees.
Today, the coffee heroes at Corporate Essentials are here to help you build on the NYC office culture you may have already started – or kick start the sort of culture your teams dream of with three unique culture building ideas that any business can put to work for them.
Put Your Employees’ Needs First
Something that plenty of companies put a lot of lip service into is the value employees have to the firm. Unfortunately, one of the things that leads to workers jumping ship for a different office is a lack of action to support the notion that employees matter to the people at the top.
So, instead of talking the “everyone here is so wonderful and we really value you all so much” talk – start walking the walk. There is no better place to start than the break room:
- Provide quality refreshments: beverages and snacks that cater to a wide variety of tastes are readily available from scores of office coffee service companies throughout NYC. By having a well-stocked break room, you give employees something they actually need – food, drinks and a place to relax.
- Saving time: your employees feel rushed by countless things during the day – offering an on-site coffee station takes some of the pressure off because no one has to wait in line to get coffee, it is just right there in the break room. This also adds to the overall feeling of value employees have in the workplace because they are not forced to waste their time getting coffee orders for others in the building from the local café.
- Saving money: this is definitely an area where actions speak louder than words – by providing office coffee options for your teams in the break room, you are saving them cold hard cash. It is hard to deny the actual “value” of that when a latte from the coffee shop up the road is going to be at least $3.
- Focusing on health: wellness in the workplace is a huge issue, which we will discuss more thoroughly in the next segment, but when an employee sees that you value their health and wellness, and are wiling to provide beverages on site to help them maintain adequate hydration and nourishment throughout their busy days, that really does show that you care.
Require Everyone to Take Breaks
Everyone has deadlines, and we all struggle with them in our own quiet way. However, as an employer, you have a duty to ensure your employees are as fit as possible in order to complete their duties to the best of their abilities. And there are few better ways to help keep your workforce fit than encouraging them to take regular breaks from their desks.
Do this by providing a well-stocked break room that offers more than a flickering strip light and an old, stained coffee carafe, and the benefits may truly surprise you. A great NYC office culture begins with a great office break room and what they can do for employees:
- Encourage collaboration: if providing refreshments is step one, involving your teams in the selection of the treats on offer is a great step two. Engage with your staff by providing surveys and asking for input. This leads to a higher level of engagement within the break room area, which has a domino effect of boosting communication and collaboration between employees from disparate teams across the organization. This fosters a feeling of belonging and welcome that all employees will warm to, and adds the side-effect of a boost in productivity through cross-departmental collaboration.
- Provide respite: by offering something completely divorced from the normal work environment, whether that is a collection of board games or a stack of current periodicals that have nothing to do with the actual work undertaken by your teams. It is important to give your staff something to do in the break room space that will encourage them to linger for a few moments over the coffee and other wonderful refreshment options you are offering.
- Give sustenance: office coffee, healthy snacks and other refreshment options exist to provide nourishment that can help your colleagues focus better on their actual work. More importantly, a great break room experience will refresh the mind by providing a change of scenery and engaging other skill sets – feeding the body and the mind to nourish the employee.
Sociology and healthcare studies will give you countless reasons that taking regular breaks is vital to maintaining a healthy workforce – these range from reducing eyestrain and headaches to lessening the potential for depression or other long-term health conditions, like hypertension.
What those studies cannot truly capture is the NYC office culture that frequent breaks offer any given business. By allowing workers the freedom to down tools for a few minutes every couple of hours, you enable them to truly be themselves, showcase their non-professional skills and enjoy just being human together.
Offer Amazing Office Refreshments
Whatever the era, whatever the economics, one fact has always remained: good food and drinks bring people together. If you think back to reports you wrote as a student in elementary school, one of the things you always included about residents of a foreign country was what made up their diet – because at a fairly basic level our cultures are defined by the things we consume. Therefore it stands to reason that providing great office beverages and snacks will provide a solid foundation for an amazing NYC office culture.
Office culture can be one of your firm’s greatest assets – but like all good things, you will have to work at it. If your human resources or facilities team is ready to put the power of coffee to work building a better culture in your office, reach out and contact one of our office coffee experts today. The team at Corporate Essentials has almost two decades of office coffee experience and culture expertise to help support your efforts toward an amazing workplace culture.
