Healthy Break Room Choices

Can New York City break rooms really contribute to employee morale? The answer is yes, they really can and especially during the winter months. A specific break room can either invite employees to visit it, stay awhile and engage in conversation or push employees to other areas for conversation and refreshments. 
 Let’s look at three ways that your break room can have an impact.

The Space

There are many different factors to consider when designing a break room’s physical space. The first question to ask is how will the space be used. Understanding the purpose(s) before making design decisions allows the design to encompass current and future needs. Some employers offer open spaces with games such as Foosball or table tennis while others focus on multiple, smaller and unique seating arrangements.

The second questions to ask is what type of vibe or energy will the room have. For example, colors, textures, lighting, seating arrangements, layout, plants and organization all contribute to the experience an employee will have when walking into the room. Textures can come from a variety of materials including bricks or rocks, wood, pleather, metal, glass and plants. One caveat when it comes to color; colors have different meanings in different cultures and can impact New York City individuals differently.

The Refreshments

Do the refreshments offered in your New York City break room match the types of refreshments that are important to your current employees? If the answer is no, then it’s time to learn what would. Once those answers are clear, the next step is to consider quality coffee services and healthy snacks and beverages. The final menu should reflect both your organization’s needs and the refreshments your employees enjoy. 

The Activities

A break room can be used for more than grabbing a bite to eat or taking a break. The space can also become a central location where team building activities take place. At this time of year, gray skies are often accompanied by the winter blues. To combat these blah and sluggish feelings, host an event for your New York City employees that creates feelings of team spirit and happiness.    

• Volunteer: Choose an organization that needs help creating packages or collecting items. For example, the break room could be a gathering point for a food drive for a local food bank or a space where employees can put together backpacks for foster children or care packages for overseas soldiers.  

• Host a Potluck: Encourage your employees to bring a dish to share. Themes for the event could include bring your favorite dish (from any time of year) or bring your favorite winter dish. It’s about choosing a theme that encourages employees to want to participate.

• Ugly Sweater Day: Invite your employees to wear the ugliest sweater they can find to work and host a competition in the break room to see whose is the ugliest. While this type of event often happens before the end of December, hosting an ugly sweater day during January or February is a fun way to boost everyone’s mood after the initial excitement of winter has worn away.

Are break rooms really this important? The simple answer is yes. Break rooms and the activities that happen in them can boost team morale and support happy and relaxed employees, which increases creativity and productivity. And that makes it worthwhile to us. 

For more information about customizing your New York City break room menu with cafe style coffee service, delicious fresh food and healthy snacks and beverages, please contact Marché at 833-627-2431. We look forward to hearing from you.

Happy employees are 13 percent more productive. With the holiday season approaching, it’s a great time to use the break room to show your New York City employees how much they are appreciated, which just might increase happiness. 

The ‘traditional’ break room is often an under used space. To reverse that trend and spread cheer and happiness throughout the workplace, consider using the break room as a place for fun, holiday celebrations that will convey employee appreciation.  

Hold a Recipe Contest

Everyone has a favorite dish or two that they look forward to enjoying every November. Instead of only eating that favorite dish at home, offer your New York City employees an opportunity to share it with everyone via a work sponsored recipe contest. Everyone gets to try the entries and vote on their favorites. The winner enjoys bragging rights as well as a hard-earned prize.   

Organize a Team Activity and Enjoy a Potluck Meal

Depending on the size of your organization or division, sharing a communal meal in the break room can be a fun way to build team or company morale. Each participant takes one piece of paper out of two different containers. The first piece of paper lists a potluck item that they are assigned to bring. The second piece of paper lists an item to donate to a prearranged organization such as a donation for a local food pantry or animal shelter. 

Give Back as a Group or an Individual

Serve your local New York City community by participating in a volunteer activity as an organization. Organize a canned food drive, serve at a soup kitchen or volunteer at a local fundraiser. There are unlimited possibilities to get involved. If a group activity isn’t practical, make it easy for your employees to give back on their own. Give your employees designated time off to volunteer with an organization or help with a specific project.  

Compete in Festive Games

Encourage your employees to relax and have some fun while celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday by organizing the Thanksgiving-related Olympic games. The following games should bring out the kid in everyone. 

• Pumpkin Bowling: Instead of a bowling ball, use the roundest pumpkin that can be found. Set up the “pins” (paper towel rolls, water bottles or anything tall and thin) in the parking lot or hallway and bowl away. 
• Pin the Feather on the Turkey: Just like pin the tail on the donkey, pin the feather on the turkey requires a picture of a turkey on the wall, feathers (or a paper imitation) and a blindfold.
• Guess How Many: Fill a glass jar with candy corn, skittles or another small, favorite sweet treat and have participants guess how many are in the jar. The winner gets the jar full of sweets for the prize.
• Mini Pumpkin Hunt: Instead of the traditional Easter egg hunt, plan a mini pumpkin hunt. Whoever finds the most mini pumpkins wins a gift card to a popular restaurant or bakery.

Holiday Grams

Another option is to offer to deliver holiday grams as a way for colleagues to say thank you to each other. During a specified period, employees are asked to choose several colleagues that they are thankful for and write a short note. The holiday grams are then delivered to the recipients and shared in a central location like a wall in the break room.  

Lastly, there is one more way New York City employers can show appreciation for their employees around the holidays and any time of the year – offer a relaxing break room with sought-after snacks and beverages, fresh food and delicious coffee. Employees truly appreciate that.

For more information about updating your current refreshment menu or customizing a new one, contact Marché at 833-627-2431. We look forward to hearing from you.