Monthly Archives: April 2018

Use the Break Room to Engage Your Staff

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Use the Break Room to Engage Your StaffYour company has a very valuable asset in the break room. That’s right, your break room can be used as more than just a home for the coffee machine and water cooler. It can be a tool for engaging with your staff. We aim to explain how in this post.

Note that you might not be able to utilize all the suggestions you read here. You may be restricted by available space, your budget, and other things. The point is still the same, though: use your break room to whatever extent you can as a way to engage with your staff. You will all be the better for it.

Conduct Meetings in the Break Room

If you have to choose between a conference room and the break room for team meetings, choose the break room. The break room offers a more casual environment that will put team members at ease. When staff are at ease, they tend to be more willing to collaborate. They are more willing to share their ideas and voice their concerns.

As an added benefit, conducting meetings in the break room means you do not have to carry coffee pots to the conference room. You don’t have to worry about getting that beautiful conference room table dirty, either.

Consider Video Messaging

If your company is large enough, consider adding a video monitor or two to the break room. Video monitors can be hooked to a computer network and used to display important company messages. In between messages, stream the weather report and local news. Video messaging is a terrific way to keep staff members in the loop about all sorts of important things.

Put in Comfortable Furniture

Whether you are having a meeting or workers are taking lunch, nothing will put them more at ease than comfortable furniture. Big tables and plastic chairs have long since lost their luster. Take them out and replace them with furniture that is more conducive to socialization and conversation. Think the local coffee shop here.

Personalize the Environment

Far too many break rooms are cold, impersonal environments that serve only a utilitarian purpose. You can better engage with your staff by personalizing the environment. Put up some interesting pictures accompanied by a few discrete decorations here and there. Even a plant or two would be nice. The goal is to make the break room more like home than the office.

Offer Free Snacks and Beverages

We recommend tying all your engagement efforts together with free snacks and beverages. Studies have shown that this one perk can boost employee satisfaction considerably. Why does this matter? Because satisfied employees are more likely to engage with management and ownership.

Galaxie Coffee has everything you need to stock your break room. We invite you to browse our inventory and then contact us with any questions you have. We would be happy to service your office with a full selection of beverages, snacks, and break room supplies.

New Trends in Healthy Snacks

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New Trends in Healthy SnacksA 2015 survey conducted by a grocery delivery chain and published by USA Today showed that employers can create a more positive vibe at work by providing free snacks and beverages. In fact, the survey of 1,000 full-time workers revealed that worker satisfaction jumped from an average of 56% to 67% when workers enjoyed free snacks. That says a lot.

Today though, just any old snacks will not necessarily do. Our collective consciousness about healthier eating has employees looking for things other than candy bars and potato chips. They want healthy snacks and drinks they can feel good about consuming.

We’ve done a bit of research ourselves. Here are some of the new trends in healthy snacks that we are seeing:

1. Fresh Fruits

A growing number of offices are beginning to stock their refrigerators with fresh fruits and vegetables. These kinds of snacks do not come easily packed in a vending machine, but it is well worth the effort to procure things like apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries and blueberries. Fresh fruits pair very well with healthy beverages.

2. Packaged Organic Foods

People seem to love just about anything labeled ‘organic’. Such a label does not necessarily mean what consumers think it means, but that doesn’t change the fact that people are interested in products like organic veggie chips, energy bars, etc. Anything organic is likely to do well in the break room.

3. Portion-Controlled Snacks

One of the big dangers of snacking is not controlling your portions. For example, one candy bar per week won’t do you any harm. One per day is another matter. So to address the portion control question, we are now seeing producers putting forth the effort to make it known they are controlling portions by way of their packaging. Consumers are responding favorably.

4. Seeds and Nuts

In terms of actual snack foods, two of the hottest trends right now are seeds and nuts. People are suddenly being turned on to snacks like pumpkin and sunflower seeds. They are also showing an affinity for almonds, pecans, and walnuts. Even peanuts (they are really a legume by the way) are hot right now.

5. Healthier Beverage Choices

Last on our list is the emerging trend of replacing sugary drinks with healthier alternatives. At the top of the list are a variety of flavored seltzers, which is the fastest growing soft drink category. Also, teas that include dandelion and green tea are popular. Beyond tea are flavored waters like lemon and coconut water. It should be noted that these flavored waters utilize natural flavorings.

Natural fruit drinks with no extra sugar added are another great option. People are drinking more blueberry, tart cherry, and apple juice than they have in a long time.

We love healthy snacks here at Galaxie Coffee. We invite you to check out our entire healthy snack inventory. From fresh fruit to veggie chips, we can stock your breakroom with plenty of great stuff. And don’t forget our coffee service either!