F&B at work

Focusing on the health and happiness of your employees has become even more important in recent years. And this is why there has been a much greater focus on how to integrate employee well-being into the working day. This might seem more challenging than you first thought, but there are plenty of ways of achieving this, and it is important to think about what suits your business best.

Did you know that Career Builder statistics suggest that 61% of employees experience burn outin their careers? Too many people are overdoing it, and their mental and physical health is suffering as a direct result. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to care for your staff and make sure you look after them. Indeed, this seems to be an important focal point for many modern businesses. 2017 findings by Society for Human Resource Management suggests that 53% of companies are seeking to create a health and wellness culture.

One of the best ways of achieving this is to create a work cafe for your employees to use. So, let’s look a little more closely at what this is and the best office layout design for your work cafe.

Work Cafe

A work cafe is the evolution of the break room. No longer is a staff relaxation area restricted to simply a place to gather, drink tea, and catch up with colleagues. Now, it can be turned into an informal space to congregate over the working day and boost productivity. FlexJobs statistics show that 76% of US workers prefer to complete tasks in places other than the office. This shows the importance of having this transitional space between the office environment and the staff relaxation areas. A combination is one of the best things you can do to boost morale and help your employee productivity to reach new heights.

Think About the Design

You need to think about the design of your work cafe, and how best to come up with an area that promotes a positive and relaxing environment but is also conducive to productivity. We don't want to toot our own horn too much, but Jackdaw work closely with businesses to meet their design needs, and this is really important when you are looking to get the perfect design. You need somewhere that is spacious and offers plenty of seating options as well. Getting the right balance between socialising and working is so important, and this needs to be reflected in your design strategy. A so-called ‘agile’ workspace is something modern businesses are crying out for, and this is what a business work cafe can provide for you.

Colour Matters

Never overlook the importance of getting the colour scheme right in your work cafe. Different colours can have a major impact on the business and will affect productivity in a number of different ways. This is why you need to make sure you give some thought to the different colours you might choose to use. You can use a mix of colours in the work cafe to get your desired effect - for instance, blue is a calming colour, while yellow is great for creativity, and green is calming. Think about the best way of utilising colours throughout the workplace in order to get the desired outcome for your work cafe.

Make it Work Friendly

You need to do as much as you can to make the work cafe as work friendly as possible. The way to do this is to ensure that everyone who has a role in the office would be in a position to fulfil that role, to the best of their ability, in your work cafe. This means providing adequate space for client meetings as well as staff meetings, brainstorming sessions, presentations, and power sockets, among other things. This should be like work away from work, but with a fun twist. A little more formal than someone’s front room, but more relaxed than the office environment.

Standing Areas

One of the things you absolutely need in a work cafe that’s designed for employees to use, is areas where they can stand. Sometimes people just want a break from sitting down all day and prefer to have a place to stand. On top of this, it is clear that standing up while working can have a lot of benefits as well. Furthermore, the British Medical Journal conducted researchwhich showed that workers who used standing desks or workspaces were more productive as a result. So this is something to account for when you are trying to create the perfect work cafe. Standing spaces are crucial, and you need to make sure there are plenty of areas in your work cafe where people can stand and work.

Create an Informal Ambience

This is one of the most important parts of the process, and you need to make sure you focus on the ambience in the design process. Steelcase estimates that close to 50% of employees feel they don’t have a place with the right ambience to help them relax as well as work. So, this is why you have to make sure you think about the ambience you’re creating for your work cafe. You want a place that has an informal feel, along with some background noise (but not too much), and somewhere that is fresh, bright, and inviting. Make sure you keep this in mind during the design process because it can have a big impact on the working space, and the productivity of your workers.

There is a lot to keep in mind when you are trying to create the perfect work cafe in the business. This is going to revolutionise the working day and help to boost morale and productivity among your employees.

Working with Jackdaw to design and create your very own, custom made work cafe is an excellent way of improving productivity, providing something unique for your workforce, and creating a more positive environment in the business. You should plan this out and think about what works best for the company moving forward.