Do you want to boost morale in your office by offering a better break room? If so, here are 10 simple tips for stocking a break room your employees will love.
One out of five people feels too much guilt to take a break from work regardless of how it may benefit them to do so.
As employees, we want to be able to take breaks when we need to, but we sometimes feel like it shows less initiative. The guilt keeps us from doing what we need to do to be mentally healthy.
How can an employer help their staff take the breaks they need to be happier employees?
Keep reading to find out more about creating the perfect break room.
1. Offer Great Snacks
They say that food is the way to some people’s hearts, right? Well, it’s true!
Give your employees the opportunity to buy snacks or meals that are actually good and are things they would want to buy otherwise.
We are talking variety here! Get some snacks that are healthy, unhealthy, popular, uncommon, and everything in between.
If you have a large office with a lot of employees, you will find that they really will appreciate the more options that are available to them. Price them reasonably or give them for free, and they will be a big hit.
2. Bring in Some Comfortable Furniture
Every break room should be a better place with some furniture that makes people comfortable. Folding plastic chairs just don’t cut it anymore. People want cushion!
Consider having a nice couch with pillows and maybe some lounge chairs throughout the area. If you have the space, more options are going to be better because they give everyone a chance to have a favorite spot.
Tables need to be the right height for their purpose as well. Your end tables, coffee tables, and dining tables should not all be the same height.
Consider all employees and how you can make it cozy for everyone.
3. Make It a Special Space
Be sure that the staff break room is in a space that is away from the work area. It should be a separate part of the building, and it should definitely have a different vibe to it than the work spaces do.
If you think about it, the employee break room is to take a break. It is a place to take a load off. It is a place to relax.
Work spaces are pretty much the opposite of this!
The break area needs to be its own space, and it needs to feel like it has its own personality compared to the rest of the building. Feel free to really make it unique.
4. Encourage the Breaks
Employees that take breaks are more likely to be happy and productive in their jobs.
In order to entice your employees, you may want to try and add some relaxing activities for them to do in the break room.
A TV or a small bookshelf may help employees feel more interested in spending time in this room. You may want to add in some group activities as well, such as ping pong or maybe an electronic dartboard.
It is a good idea to set up for employees so that they can choose when they want their breaks to be. This way you won’t have all employees taking breaks at the same time, but you will also know when the employees will be using the room.
5. Give Out Some Freebies
It is the obvious truth that everyone likes free stuff, but this is especially true for employees that have been working hard for the better part of the workday.
Not only do the free snacks or drinks make someone feel like their company cares about them, but they also provide a more welcoming atmosphere. This is something that your employees and potential employees will love.
Having a free coffee machine, filtered water dispenser, dry snacks, or even baked goods can make a huge difference in a break room. You can visit the website to find out more about getting some beverages to hand out!
If you have it in the budget, it is worth it to try and add this in to help build more team cohesiveness. It helps employees feel like they are really part of the bigger picture and overall.
6. Ask the Employees
What do the employees like in a break room? What would they like to have in there? What could they do without?
These are some simple things that you could ask your employees to find out what it is that they would benefit from.
You could always come up with your own ideas, but everyone is different. You may find that what you think is great is not the same as what your employees would prefer.
Get their input and try to put it into play while creating the break space.
7. Have Some Decorations
With the idea of getting input from the employees, they may also want to help with the overall decor. Allow the team to decorate some of the space themselves as well.
This could be a team building activity if you wanted to make it into an organized event, or it could be something that is added to over time.
You could have a specific space in the break room for the team to add their own flair to, or the entire room could be done by them! It depends on what your team would prefer.
If you don’t have a particularly creative group in your office, that’s okay too! Adding some plants, color, and pictures can make any space a little less dull.
8. Include Natural Lighting
It is widely known that nature has a positive impact on our mental well-being.
If possible, you should always try to have at least one window in your break room. This is going to allow the space to feel much more open and inviting but also will be a welcome break from the overhead lighting that most offices have.
Even if the room doesn’t have a window, you can actually fake it. There are crafty ways to make your walls look like a window is there even when it isn’t!
Regardless of whether or not the window is real, the natural lighting can affect our moods and our productivity in pretty astounding ways.
9. Nap Area
When there is space for it, having a dark and quiet nap area can be really beneficial for employees. Working for long days without having the chance to break can be extremely mentally taxing.
If you work in an environment that tends to have really long hours, a nap area can benefit your employees by letting them get a little rest.
10. Keep the Break Room Cupboards Full
By this, we mean to keep the appliances clean, the freebies stocked, and the furniture clean.
A new break room may seem great at first, but people forget that rooms that have people hanging out in them all the time still need to be cared for.
Whether it is you, the cleaning staff, or the employees that care for the room, someone’s gotta do it! Be sure to figure this out before the room starts to be used.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Breaks
Having an excellent break room can lead to excellent employees as long as the room is used, cared for, and accessible.
If you have any ideas for forms that can help improve your break room space, be sure to about what you might need!
