While it is important for employees to work hard, it is equally important to encourage your employees to take breaks. A break can help an employee function better on many levels. The following are a few key areas where employers and employees alike will benefit from more breaks in the workplace.
A Break Can Improve Performance
Sometimes a task can be more grueling than an employer may imagine. If an employee is not performing up to speed or does not seem enthusiastic at their station, this can be a sure sign that the employee is in desperate need of a break. By giving an employee the opportunity to step away from their desk or work station, this will provide a few moments for a worker to clear their head before returning to their work with a fresh mindset. Sometimes that is all it takes to motivate a worker to jump into their work with a renewed enthusiasm as well. An increasing body of data is showing that regular breaks throughout the work day are an essential component to better employee performance. In some cases, major improvements are seen in employees who take a small break every fifteen minutes over employees who take far less breaks throughout their regular shift. These types of results in the emerging data suggests that employers should at least consider attempting to determine a break schedule that best fits the needs of their employees to obtain best results overall.
A Break Can Lower Stress
Another reason why a break can make all the difference around the workplace is because it helps to reduce stress and tension. If a worker is showing signs of being overly stressed, this is only going to distract your employee from giving you their best. By allowing a worker a few moments to get away from their work and blow off a little steam, you are making it possible for your employee to regain their focus and obtain results that they might otherwise not be able to achieve from beneath the burden of so much stress. 40-percent of workers complain that their job is stressful, and 25-percent of workers claim that it is the most significant source of stress in their life.
A Break Gives an Employee a Little Freedom to Do What They Want
Sometimes an employee is chomping at the bit, because there is something they want to do for their own personal benefit. For a lot of your employees, this could be anything from making a personal call, taking a walk to release leg cramps or checking out the latest vape box mod being released to the market. Whatever the employees desire, a little freedom to take their mind off the regular grind around the office can often seem liberating and bring huge improvements to an employee's attitude.
A Break Should Be Encouraged for Lunch
While many employees feel pressured to skip lunch to meet this or that deadline, chances are this strategy is counterproductive to an employee's overall happiness and performance. The human body simply needs nourishment throughout the day. Some employees will undoubtedly require more nourishment than others to maintain adequate energy levels to keep on task throughout their shift. Also, low blood sugar from skipping lunch can create irritability and fuzzy thinking, which can produce all sorts of unwanted drama around the office. As an employer, it is your duty to make certain your employees take out time to meet their lunch-time nourishment needs. So, encourage your employees to take that much needed lunch break.
There are a variety of reasons for why an employer should be encouraging their employees to take breaks throughout their shift. From improvements to overall performance to improvements in disposition, the increasing body of scientific data shows that more frequent breaks in the workplace can produce better results with employees across the board. An added benefit that a lot of employers may not think about is that increasing breaks for their employees is also a cheap way to boost performance and morale around the office. Of course, a cost effective approach to solving such problems is truly music to an employers ears, because this means implementing more breaks throughout the day will not take a great toll on the company's bottom line.