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It can be very tempting to skip your lunch break and aim for an early finish - or you may be so rushed off your feet that stopping for lunch feels like time wasted. As a business owner, it is important to remember that you set the standard that your staff aspires to, and every time you skip a lunch break, your workforce unconsciously recognizes that stopping for lunch is not desirable within your business.
Once your employees start to skip their lunch break or condense it in order to rush back to work, morale and productivity will decrease and you could end up in a situation where staff become stressed and burned out.
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Healthy Habits For Mind and Body
Taking a midday break is important to recharge and reassess your priorities, and it is an essential element of a healthy lifestyle. Staff members who routinely enjoy their full lunch break, away from their working environment, are shown to be more productive and engaged than those who do not [1].
Leading by example and enjoying a healthy meal at lunchtime, away from your working environment, sets the tone for your employees, who will feel more motivated to emulate your behavior. This will lead to increased levels of job satisfaction and an improved business culture, and it will enhance your reputation as an employer.
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Make Lunch Profitable
By encouraging all of your employees to take their lunch break, they will be more productive upon their return, which is great for business. But there are some other measures that you can implement to create or restore a culture where breaking for lunch is not only acceptable but encouraged.
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Encourage unit cohesion
Use lunch as an opportunity to get your employees away from the workplace. By taking the whole team out for lunch - either a sit-down meal or a picnic - you are giving them a valuable opportunity to get to know each other outside of work and without impacting on their family time. By developing real connections that are not related to the projects that they are working on or the deadlines they are striving to meet, they will feel more comfortable collaborating back in the working environment.
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Reduce staff turnover
Recruiting staff is costly, so nurturing the employees you already have is important for retaining them. Ensuring that they are encouraged to enjoy their lunch break each day can lead to improvements in health and happiness among your workforce and is a free way of maintaining morale.
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Healthy staff takes less time off
Encouraging your staff to take the time to eat a healthy and balanced lunch and to spend time away from the office also allows them to engage in the fitness activities of their choosing. By eating well and exercising during the day, staff will benefit from improvements in their physical and mental health, which can reduce time lost to sickness and reduce the costs borne by the business.
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Resources:
[1] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tork-survey-reveals-lunch-break-impact-on-workplace-engagement-300650223.html
