Have you noticed lately that your employees are in a slump? It’s a fact that bored employees actually hurt productivity , and that’s certainly not something you want to have in your workplace. Not only can it cause a decline in sales, but it may cause employees to annoy each other and become verbally abusive. As an HR representative, you have the power to positively influence the workplace environment. A few simple tweaks to your workplace may help increase overall employee happiness, morale and productivity.

Encourage Healthy Eating

If you have room in your budget, offer to have healthy snacks on hand. Generally, everyone wants to try to eat a healthy diet, but it can be tempting not to with easy access to chips, cookies, candy, and soda in vending machines. Try arranging to have fresh fruit delivered to the office a few times a week. If that’s a little out of your budget, try having unsalted nuts, granola bars, or flavored waters stocked in the kitchen. Green tea is also something to keep around due to its link to improved brain function .

Make Them Feel Special

Most people like to feel recognized on their birthday, so have a birthday program in place. Again, if you have room in your budget, arrange to have a birthday cake for your employees and ask what they would prefer in order to avoid food allergies. In addition, something small such as an office-wide email with a notice or a card signed by everyone is nice as well. However, remember that some people may not be comfortable with everyone in the office knowing when their birthday is, so have an opportunity for employees to opt out of the program if they choose to do so.

Have a Dedicated Space to Eat Lunch

It’s detrimental to a person’s health to eat lunch at their desk . Make sure your office has a space for your employees to take a break away from the computer to eat. It’s even better if you can arrange office lunches every once in awhile at the local eatery. Not only does this give your employees a change of pace during the workday, but it will provide an opportunity for them to network and get to know each other better.

Schedule Team Bonding Activities

Although it may be simple to have everyone go out to lunch, think outside of the box and organize an activity outside of work. Offer to arrange a bowling or mini golf night, or have an annual event such as a summer picnic. This will become an event that employees will look forward to going to, who may want to include their families as well.

If you don’t already have these measures in place, consider some of these suggestions to implement into your workplace. Over time, you will notice that your employees will look, and feel happier.