KEY POINTS:
If you get snotty emails from the office do-gooder about dirty microwaves, stale food in the fridge and missives about the state of the staff room sink, then you are probably one of the lucky ones. You have a staff lunchroom or rest area to get away from the desk.
Vodafone is among the many companies that see the value of looking after their staff by providing them with somewhere to get away from the desk for a bite to eat or a screen break. On each floor it has what the company calls breakout areas.
Bright and spacious, each features five round tables that seat six or more people, large comfortable couches, an area with bar stools and two coffee machines. Company spokesperson Paul Brislen says the areas are frequently taken over with impromptu meetings where anyone can join in.
"If someone comes in at nine and moves to the breakout area to eat something at 10 then no one is interested," says Brislen. "Our culture is not about punching in and out - it is all about getting the job done. And so long as we do that then no one is going to care when you have lunch or how much time you spend in a breakout area."
The firm's call centre staff on the sixth floor get the best view - of Rangitoto. "Call centre staff have a great breakout area that also has a walled-off space with big screen TVs," says Brislen. "The company figured that after a period of time helping customers they would [need] not only a comfortable area full of couches, but one with some visual stimulation. They also have a balcony to relax on.
"We also have one of those air hockey-puck game tables in the building for staff to play on - but that's in a separate room."
Brislen says the ethos around the way Vodafone gets staff to have a break is that the best parties always take place in the kitchen.
"Our breakout areas really form the hub of each floor," he says. "If you want to know what's going on at Vodafone you come and hang out here and listen in on all the meetings. I'm in a breakout area now and people are listening to me as I mooch around."
Brislen says one of his team's jobs is to help ensure the breakout areas are kept ship-shape and he has to "now and again" send out emails to staff reminding them to keep them clean.
"The cleaners come around of course and every Friday they hunt through all the fridges looking for out-of-date or stale food and they toss it out," says Brislen. "It's a kind of eat-it-or-lose-it scheme - no one wants stinking, stale food in the fridges."
He says Friday afternoons is when the breakout areas come alive with frequent end-of-week drinks drawing crowds of around 200 staff.
Brislen says with a lot of staff hot-desking they don't tend to sit in the same place two days in a row. So the breakout areas give staff a relaxing place to mingle with colleagues.
"We have a very open and flat employment structure," he says. "So if you are not careful you can end up not talking to people in other teams. But you come to a breakout area and you find yourself talking with all sorts of people - you can cut through a lot of red tape that way."
Brislen says that providing staff with somewhere "cool and funky" to eat and relax means they don't have to leave the building if they don't need to and people don't feel obliged to eat at their desk.
And according to a study on germs at work, eating next to filthy keyboards and telephones might be causing some people to become ill. American microbiologist Dr Charles Gerba says people's desks have more germs than your average toilet seat.
The University of Arizona professor carried out tests that revealed office desks had 400 times more germs than a toilet.
Top of the germ list is the desk telephone followed by the desk itself. Next come water fountains, microwave door handles and computer keyboards. All carry more germs than the office loo.
According to Dr Gerba's study your phone could be home to more than 25,000 microbes a square inch (2.5 sq cm) while the average toilet seat is said to contain about 49 microbes a square inch.
He says desktops have become breeding grounds for germs because they are now places where people eat all manner of food - from breakfast cereal to hot takeaways.
"We don't think twice about eating at our desks," he says.
"Even though the average desk has 100 times more bacteria than a kitchen table. Without cleaning, a small area on your desk or phone can sustain millions of bacteria that could potentially cause illness."
Dr Gerba also warned that workers with a cold or flu virus can pass it on through office equipment such as photocopiers and microwaves.
"When someone is infected with a cold or flu bug, the surfaces they touch during the day become germ transfer points," he said. "Because some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours, an office can become an incubator."
The study found in offices where workers were told to clean their desks with disinfecting wipes, bacterial levels were reduced by 99 per cent.
So maybe it's time to step away from your desk when you need to eat. Use the company kitchen or breakout area and if you don't have one, book the meeting room for 1pm and eat lunch in there.
Contact Steve Hart at: www.stevehart.co.nz
