By Anica Oaks
Even the best of work days can seem to stretch on forever when your employees get hungry several hours into their shifts. Despite your obligation to provide them breaks and lunch hours, should you really make food available in your small business’ break room? All indications point to a resounding yes, you should offer food for your small business employees.
In fact, Inc.com even goes so far as to label healthy food options as an essential part of any successful small business break room. You can decide for yourself, however, by considering some of the perks of making available snacks, beverages, and even entrees to your employees.
Energy and Productivity
Hungry employees are unmotivated employees. The grumbling of their stomachs may detract your workers from their duties at work and compel them to dismiss the needs of your clients and customers.
When you make available vending machines in your small business’ break room, however, you give your employees a chance to eat and refuel during their lunch hours and breaks. They can come back to the office or sales floor ready to work and ready to help your business meet its productivity goals.
Camaraderie
As their employer, you presumably may want to avoid making best friends with your employees. However, you would not cross the line of fraternizing if you provide food and beverages to your workers.
If anything, the availability of snacks, drinks, prepackaged sandwiches, and other choices in the break room could increase your favor with your employees and help them view you in a more positive light. They will realize that you want them to stay replenished and well during the work day.
Health
You never know when a quick snack or a cold drink may become a medical necessity at your small business. You or one of your employees could without warning suffer a bout of hypoglycemia, also known as low blood sugar, which can only be resolved by eating snacks like peanut butter crackers, granola, or other high-protein, carbohydrate-laden foods.
Other people develop intense migraines if they get hungry and wait for hours to eat. Rather than allow any of your employees to suffer from a medical crisis caused by a lack of food, you can avoid a potentially dangerous health situation by having food available on the premises. Consider stocking your break room with healthy foods as well to promote healthy eating.
Convenience
As sympathetic to your workers’ lunch time appetites as you may be, you still might want to avoid the hassle of having to go out to buy break room groceries several times a week. For better convenience, you can invest in vending machines and allow a professional vending service to bring snacks, drinks, and more to your small business.
When you partner with a vending service like Proserve Vending, with vending routes in Ontario, you can choose what kinds of food you want to make available to your employees. You can choose from selections like fresh bottled water, granola, crackers, chips, muffins, candies, and canned soft drinks, among many other food choices.
Savings
Buying food for the break room refrigerator and pantry is expensive. Rather than allow your company’s bottom line to take a hit, you can save your money and instead invite employees to spend their own by installing vending machines.
Vending machine selections are low cost and typically only require that people spend their pocket change for their favorite snacks and drinks. Ultimately, however, you save your budget for expenses other than buying pizza or loading up on groceries for your workers.
Your employees work better with food and beverages in their stomachs. When you are debating whether or not to make snacks, drinks, and more available to your workers, you may be convinced by learning why this practice has its advantages.
Anica Oaks is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty. You can connect with Anica here.
