Coffee

Quality of life, or "work fuel?"

Ah, coffee.

We are so used to having coffee available in the office that we don’t often think about why it’s there. We just know that, if it was suddenly gone, things would get ugly fast.

We have coffee in the office to improve our staff members’ quality of life, and the boost to productivity that it provides is a significant factor.

Are there other things we can provide to our staffers that would have a similar cost/benefit ratio? Consider some options like fresh fruit (maybe even bringing in a local provider 1-2 times weekly to set up in the lobby for a couple of hours?). Consider offering a range of other beverages (preferably not the ones that increase obesity and diabetes). Consider a team-building “Free Food Friday” once each month, in which you bring in an order of something tasty for a collective lunch-and-learn or team-building catch-up.

Ask your people what perks they would like. Some of them are no-cost options, like allowing (well-behaved) dogs in the office. A big factor right now is the flexible schedule—can we make arrangements for people to work remotely some days, even after the pandemic is over? Can we set “core hours” in which everyone is available for meetings, etc., but allow people to start/end early or start/end late, which gives parents, early-risers, or night-owls the ability to maximize their productive time in a balance with their outside-of-work needs?

In short, what else can we provide as employers that will give people the satisfaction and productivity of a good cup of coffee?

(Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash)