Dehydration is a common problem in workplaces across the nation. Not only are workers not drinking enough fluids throughout the day, but they’re also not choosing the right fluids to fuel their bodies with. As energizing as coffee can be in short sprints, this energy doesn’t last long and causes many to crash about halfway through their day. It’s for these reasons that employers should actively promote drinking water. For the sake of productivity and the overall health of the workplace, these are some effective ways to encourage staff to drink more water.
Create and Enforce a Hydration Policy
Unfortunately, the stress and business of the daily grind can cause many individuals to make their own health their last priority. Because of this, it’s crucial that you—as their employer—supply them with the encouragement to keep up with these practices.
Developing a company hydration policy is one great way to provide this motivation by making it a group effort and goal. When putting together this plan, make sure that you express clear guidelines to ensure that everyone is being held to concrete water consumption standards. Remember to also educate your employees on the policy and how it can help them maintain their health both in and out of the office.
Educate Your Employees on Dehydration
A hydration policy won’t help if your employees don’t understand its importance. It’s important for you to properly educate your employees on the dangers of dehydration and how it can affect them throughout their daily lives.
In fact, drinking too little water can compromise the body’s ability to flush out contaminants, making individuals more likely to fall ill and need to miss work. This sluggishness can also begin to affect a person’s focus, significantly reducing their energy, making them less productive, and increasing their stress levels. In teaching your employees about these dehydration symptoms, they’ll be more open to accepting and practicing your hydration policy.
Keep a Tea Supply in the Break Room
To many individuals, water doesn’t have as pleasurable a taste as the sugary drinks on the market. As such, hydrating themselves becomes a chore that they have to force themselves to do. Even when giving it their best efforts, these people often give up and fall back into their old routine.
Fortunately, there are various ways to fit water into a person’s diet. Whether they would rather eat more water-based foods or substitute a cup of tea for their morning coffee, flavors can be infused with water to make consumption less arduous. It’s essential that you supply them with some of these water-rich options to support them and ensure positive alternatives are available.
Install an Accessible Water Dispenser
Another effective way to encourage your staff to drink more water is by increasing their access to a clean water source. Since soda machines are a commonality in many work environments, employees will often purchase these drinks out of proximity rather than need. As such, you’ll need to increase their access to water in order to increase their consumption rate.
But it isn’t enough to simply install an office water dispenser. You also need to be sure it’s in a location that provides equal opportunity to all employees in the office—especially if the space is larger. Office water coolers are often placed in community areas, such as break rooms or cafeterias, to cater to the most people possible. But if you have a larger number of employees, you may also want to consider getting a second cooler to ensure everyone has access to clean water.
Make it into a Team-Building Activity
It can be difficult to change your already-established routine and adopt healthier practices. As such, it’s crucial that each person has a support system to encourage them and keep them on the right track. A person’s coworkers play a key role in the process for this very reason. In helping them change their habits and maintain that change, an individual is more likely to stick with those changes. In addition, these individuals are also more likely to pay it forward by encouraging other coworkers to reach their goals.
Since coworkers have such as strong impact on a person’s goals, many employers often turn this process into a team-building activity. This can be anything from a health awareness month to a designated goal-setting activity with the entire department. But while the method you decide to use in your office is up to you, it can be most effective to turn it into a competition with a small prize. This will foster both a competitive spirit and a fun goal that everyone is working together to meet.
Hold Yourself to the Same Standard
As the leader of your company, it’s up to you to set the standard and act as an example to your employees of how to conduct themselves in the workplace. It’s key that you adhere to your hydration policy as well and participate in any activities promoting water consumption. This will prevent your employees from feeling forced into the changes and make them more likely to comply.
Adhering to a better water policy yourself will also help protect your own health—along with that of your employees. You’ll be able to maintain your focus and stay productive for longer in the day, getting more done in the process and reducing any stress over mounting work. In general, if you’re feeling better, you’ll be able to accomplish more for your company and work harder to keep it a positive environment for all.
It’s clear that supplying your employees with the best-quality drinking water is key to helping them drink more of it. As such, it’s important to us at Drink Meta that you have the tools to promote a healthier, and more productive, work environment. Our water cooler rentals in the New York City area offer that water in a variety of ways to suit the diverse tastes of your employees. After all, at the end of the day, nothing is more important than one’s health.
