Work place eating.

We all eat at our desks and often grab a Mars bar or can of Coke when it is stressful. Sometimes we might skip breakfast or work over lunch. Here at HtE Recruitment we really believe in encouraging the benefits of eating well in the work place. All our team are encouraged to eat Breakfast and given time to do this, we have at least 2 decaf hot drinks available and ask all our team to stop at lunch time to eat. We do not encourage eating and working but instead to stop and eat. 

Do you feel tired at work? or find your energy level low, even after your 5 Coffee’s? At many offices, it can be hard sometimes to get the food balance right, here are some ideas about how the food you eat can make a impact in the work place.

Food psychology and Working

There’s a broadening field of science catered to food science and psychology. There’s a lot of connections between how we eat and how we feel. It’s about understanding the connections between what we eat and our physical and mental health. Foods relationship with our performance, mental health and well-being are worth paying attention to so here’s our highlights of things you may find worth in.

The way we eat

What we eat effects how alert and energetic we are, however people build habits which are hard to break. So the shift in our focus goes from eating foods you need to eating foods that make you feel good gradually over a life time, which isn’t bad but it is something to be aware of if you like to be in charge of your eating habits. In recent years, food as a coping mechanism has been explored more, to try and demystify the behaviour trait. This is done in many ways mentally, generally speaking, it starts with an emotion, the brain then responds to this emotion with the need to sustain yourself. If you get stressed out or achieve something at work. Your body may encourage you to eat something, this habit is the food as a reward habit. It is a behaviour a lot of people have which makes it problematic as it doesn’t effect everyone the same Various psychology institutes advise that we should be more active in identifying habits tied to our diet and lifestyle.

Healthy eating can increase productivity in the work place:

In a recent study, Scientific show these tips could improve productivity at work. For example, it’s been shown that the more portions of fruit and vegetables eaten per day, the happier, more engaged, and more creative people will be at work. In a study by the British Journal of Heath Psychology, adults who ate more healthily over a 13-day period had greater wellbeing and also demonstrated more feelings of meaning and purpose at work. In addition, those employees who eat five portions of fruit and vegetables on at least four days per week show 25% higher job performance than those who do not. More than 20,000 employees across three US-based companies undertook an annual survey for three years. Those who ate healthily were off work less, and achieved more, in one study. [read more]

One office fruit delivery company called “fruitfuloffice” in the UK say:

• 81% of staff thought having fresh fruit available at their desk had “improved their quality of life at work”
• 70% of staff started eating more fruit
• 45% of staff were eating fewer unhealthy snacks

[read more regarding above quotes]

What are great foods to eat in the work place:

• Porridge oats. These are slow releasing to give energy over a morning. This is really good for you, you could add honey or banana.
• Cranberry juice (high in anti oxidants)
• Fruit (apples, pears, oranges)
• Cereal (most have added vitamins)
• Brown rice for lunch
• Lunch items like sweet potato, Quorn chilli, Rice & bean chilli
• Decaf drinks, like all sales companies having a hot brew is normal. Switching to decaf for half the brews is really good for you.
• Banana. Football players tend to eat this, these are very good for you and your body can absorb it and it is fast release of energy

Some practical examples of what a Manager can do

Rick, the Director of HtE Recruitment gave some practical examples of what we have done over the years:

• Encourage our Recruiter team to have breakfast before making registration calls
• Having decaf options of hot drinks
• When treating the Top billing Recruiters, having options they could opt for (ie on a Pizza Friday treat for beating billing targets, to have wedges or other options as well with the Pizza)
• On the themed days (ie 4th July), to have some fruit as well
• When we treat the team for top billing, it is a treat and a personal choice what they want to eat/drink. We just have options. It is always difficult, as treating high performance is very important for any sales company.
• The building we are in has a deli/cafe and they do jacket potatoes and salads for lunches.
• Having a Microwave and fridge will help to encourage healthy lunches

HtE Recruitment News & Insights

This news and insights page has been researched, created & written by Josh and practical examples regarding our work place given by Rick our Director. These are just some ideas from the past 14 years of trading.