What can businesses do to attract people back to the office?

As we have talked about, in 2023 getting the best out of your employees doesn’t mean having them in the office 24/7, with the more flexibility and openness on work-life balance, the better. But when people are in the office how can you make it a great environment to be in? Creating an experience is the answer!

Improving experiences through coffee

One vital way to create an experience is through what your workforce drinks. Did you know people across the UK drink 95 million cups of coffee a day? Even with the impacts from cost of living, the coffee industry itself is growing with consumers still prioritising quality. A big reason behind coffee’s popularity is its versatility in the way it can be consumed. You can enjoy it hot, cold, mixed with milk or blended with ice. The possibilities are endless.

Quality drinking options can be a benefit in a number of ways to creating an experience and team bonding for your office. Coffee breaks can be a neutral place for your team to go take 5, preparing them to come back into their space and continue to hit the ground running.

Office perks are proven to be valued by UK employees. It’s proven that 71% of UK workers value office drinks, travel schemes and flexi-hours over pensions. Whilst another survey showed that 75% of employees agree that having high-quality coffee shows that their employer cares for their wellbeing.

Socialising in the workplace

Coffee also has a great way of bringing people together. Installing a premium coffee machine in your office kitchen, meeting rooms, or break-out areas, encourages people to socialise and further build your culture. These spaces can also improve the quality of your meeting when in the office. With an already raised morale due to the fact quality coffee is regularly available, the effects coffee can bring will introduce higher energy and more focus during the discussions.

The sociable side of drinking coffee in the workplace should never be underestimated and should be looked at in a positive light. Immersing your company and workplace into a constant communication hub will only benefit workplace relationships and feelings towards being in the workplace. This in turn will only increase the amount of time your workforce are happy to come into the office.

In the current period where the thought of cost of living has never been more heightened the lure of free, quality coffee can again be a real benefit to your workforce. With an introduced opportunity to have a space to be collaborative with their favourite beverages employees will feel their own health and wellbeing is in the forefront of their employer’s mind. The stats back this point up as well. According to the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC), 67% of workers enjoy a cup of coffee every day at work. The same study linked coffee consumption and workplace productivity. 43% of workers in the study also said that drinking coffee at work makes them more productive.

Summary

To summarise, the key behind attracting people back into the office is listening and understanding to their wants and needs. It’s also about emphasising the things they find positive, like communication hubs which will benefit working consistently in the long run. Flexibility in approaches is also the way to get the best out of your workforce, not every person can be treated the same. Making each person feel equally individually valued is vital.