Four Ways to Convince Employees to Skip the Coffee Trip and Stay On-Site
Coffee is a way of life in every office. While numbers vary from one study to the next, it is estimated that anywhere from 60% to 90% of office workers drink coffee as part of their regular routine. Safe to say, in your office, coffee isn’t going away anytime soon.
And that’s a good thing! Not only can the caffeine that accompanies coffee provide a valuable energy boost, but the act of drinking coffee in the morning is a comforting ritual that helps put people in the right frame of mind for work.
One potential downside of this coffee habit, however, is the potential for lost work time while employees leave the building to go find a cup elsewhere. If those coffee trips have become a productivity drain in your office, consider taking some steps to encourage workers to stick around and get what they need without leaving (and without spending five to eight bucks every trip). InReach is the ideal partner for just such an initiative.
Offer Great Coffee
This is where it all starts. If you are going to succeed in keeping your people on-site with your office coffee service, you need to offer delicious options. If the coffee in your office is the type of low-quality brew that has been common in offices for generations, you can be sure your employees are going to leave in search of something better.
Teaming up with InReach will make it easier than ever before to provide outstanding coffee in your office. We make excellent roasts available, both from national brands and smaller, local favorites. No matter what type of coffee is favored by the people in your building, it’s a safe bet that we can make it available.
Create a Comfortable, Welcoming Space
The experience of drinking coffee is almost as important as the actual beverage itself. If your office coffee station is tucked down a dark hallway off to the side of the office and doesn’t offer a communal space along with it, most employees will prefer to go elsewhere.
Investing in a great space for people to drink coffee in the office is a huge upgrade that will have far-reaching effects. Imagine if you had a bright, well-decorated break room in the middle of the office where a number of coffee drinks were available. That space would immediately become the most popular spot in the building, and no longer would your employees be looking for every opportunity to escape to a coffee shop instead.
Diversify Your Coffee Program
Coffee drinkers all have their individual preferences—and they tend to take those preferences quite seriously. Even if you offer an objectively high-quality brew in your office, there is no way that just one option is going to make everyone happy. In 2024, research indicated that more people consumed specialty coffee beverages than traditional coffee.
You’ll need diversification within your coffee program to make sure it can suit as many drinkers as possible in the building. That means having both fresh hot coffee and cold brew, plus other offerings like teas and energy drinks. In trying to keep your employees on-site, you are effectively competing with local coffee shops for the attention of your people. And, if you are going to win that competition, you need to think like a coffee shop and provide a range of drinks to satisfy as many employees as possible.
Make It an Event
From time to time, consider scheduling a coffee-specific event in the office to bring focus to your coffee program. This could take many forms, and it could be seen as a fun way to boost office engagement and break out of the normal day-to-day patterns. For example, you might choose to bring in a few unique roasts for a Friday morning coffee break where everyone in the building takes an hour off to chat, try new coffees, and build relationships.
Upgrade Your Coffee Services Today
In the end, it’s pretty simple: provide your employees with great on-site office coffee services, and they will have no reason to look anywhere else. With the help of InReach, you can turn the daily coffee ritual from a time-sink into a positive experience that brings people together and strengthens bonds in your building. Get in touch with us today to learn more.