Employee Engagement & Instant Taps

Employee Engagement & Instant Taps

by | Aug 7, 2018 | instant tap, Water Coolers

Employee engagement, according to Forbes, is the ‘emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation and its goals. This emotional commitment means engaged employees actually care about their work and their company.’ Those who are engaged are easy to spot: it’s the person first through the door in the morning because they can’t wait to start their day, they are full of energy when they talk about their work, the corporate culture, their manager, or any challenging project they’re involved in; and their positivity inspires those around them. So it’s easy to see why employee engagement is beneficial for business, and there are a number of ways of achieving it.

One good place to start is to encourage a strengths-based culture – this exists when a team member’s strengths are aligned with their professional requirements. It’s quite different to the more standard performance appraisal system which focuses more on a person’s shortcomings rather than what they’re good at. By focusing on the positive, research has found that employees are more motivated, they are more inclined to develop their strengths, and they are more likely to thrive in their working environment.

Another way to foster employee engagement is to show that the company cares about their staff – this can be demonstrated in big ways like implementing incentive programmes or different reward systems, or providing regular training so that employees can upskill and move through the ranks more confidently. But it’s also implicit in the small things like ensuring your staff members have a comfortable breakout area (research shows that regular breaks aid productivity), and that there are tea and coffee facilities with safe drinking water easily accessible via instant taps or water coolers.

According to Glassdoor, the nine pillars of employee engagement are:

  1. Knowing your value and purpose within the company
  2. Constructive and timeous communication
  3. Health and wellness
  4. Enjoying your physical workspace
  5. Having a well-defined role in the organisation
  6. Social interactions in the office
  7. Recognition and incentives
  8. Support and buy-in from quality managers
  9. Bolstering personal growth and development

Employee engagement leads to higher employee satisfaction, higher staff retention and lower turnover, less absenteeism, higher productivity and ultimately increased profitability – can you afford to not prioritise it?

Dehydration – Do You Know the Signs?

Dehydration – Do You Know the Signs?

by | Jun 4, 2018 | Hot Water Taps, instant tap, Water Coolers

We all know that dehydration is bad for us and that it’s important to keep ourselves well hydrated throughout the day to ensure we perform optimally, which (in addition to it being law) is another reason why companies provide easy access to water in the form of water coolers, water boilers and hot water taps. But many of us still don’t drink enough water and even slight dehydration is harmful. Our bodies naturally alert us when it needs replenishment, but thirst mechanism aside, what are the other cues we often misread?

Some of the first signs of dehydration are similar to hunger pangs, which mistakenly makes us reach for something to eat. The confusion apparently stems from our hypothalamus, that part of the brain that regulates appetite and thirst – which, when we’re dehydrated, gets its wires crossed. It’s always best if you’re feeling slightly hungry to try drinking water first, if hunger pangs persist then move on to a snack, but always try replenishing the body’s water supply before doing anything else.

A more obvious sign is a dry mouth, potentially followed by a headache – the latter is not something we would normally associate with dehydration, but unwittingly it is often the cause. According to University News ‘dehydration headaches may happen because a lack of fluids causes shrinkage in brain volume. This results in the brain pulling away from the skull, which triggers pain receptors in the meninges (the membrane that surrounds the brain).’ So, before you reach for pain killers, walk over to the hot water taps in your office kitchen and make a cup of tea or drink a glass of water. An important point to remember however is that while drinking coffee and tea will aid hydration, it is only effective around the four cups per day mark – if consumption exceeds that, it actually becomes a diuretic which is counterproductive to hydration.

Other more serious signs can include fatigue, heart palpitations, cramping, loss of concentration and loss of mental capabilities. It is particularly the change in focus and shift in mental acuity that affects productivity. A study assessing the effects of mild dehydration on cognitive performance found that ‘mild dehydration in men induced adverse changes in vigilance and working memory, and increased tension/anxiety and fatigue.’ Worryingly, many of us begin our day already mildly dehydrated which is then exacerbated by a lack of water intake as we move through our day.

It is imperative, both from a health and productivity point of view, that we maintain sufficient hydration levels, and we achieve this by forming healthy habits – keeping a bottle of water on our desks and sipping on it throughout the day; and taking regular water and tea breaks. Mild dehydration is insidious and if we are to function optimally, we need to learn to read the signs correctly.

Hot Water Taps Save 119 Hours & £1,638 per Annum

Hot Water Taps Save 119 Hours & £1,638 per Annum

by | Mar 28, 2018 | aquaid, Hot Water Taps, instant tap, Water Coolers

Want to know how your business can save 119 hours and £1,638 in wasted productivity every year?

Read on …

How many cups of tea or coffee do we drink at work?

  • There are 65,64 million people in the UK
  • Each day 165 million cups of tea and 70 million cups of coffee are consumed – that’s an average of 4 cups per person per day
  • Let’s assume the average person (Jane/Joe) drinks one cup at home and three cups at the office
  • Let’s also assume that Jane/Joe is working in a micro-sized business of 9 employees and that when they make tea or coffee for themselves, they also do so for another 2 employees in the office

How much time do we waste waiting for a kettle to boil?

  • It takes 3 minutes for a kettle to boil – that’s 3 minutes Jane/Joe wastes every day waiting for hot water for the three cups of tea or coffee they’re wanting to make, assuming Jane/Joe and the two colleagues take it in turn to make drinks
  • If we work an average of 22 days per month – that’s 66 minutes wasted in the month and 792 minutes or just over 13 hours wasted per year
  • If the average working day is 8 hours long, it means we waste more than 1.5 working days per year waiting for that kettle
  • And that’s just for one Jane or Joe

Want to add a monetary value to that time wasted?

  • The average wage in the UK is £13.94 per hour – that’s 23 pence per minute, without employers NI contributions of around 13 percent
  • If Jane/Joe wastes 792 minutes per year waiting for water to boil it equates to £182 lost in productivity
  • Again, just for one Jane or Joe

Want to know how much that actually impacts on you as a business owner?

  • There are 5.7 million small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, which makes up 99% of all businesses
  • SMEs can be broken down into micro business owners (the vast majority of SMEs) who employ 0-9 employees; small business owners who employ up to 49 employees; and medium business owners who employ up to 249 employees
  • If you are a micro business owner:

That’s a £1,638 and 119 hours (or 15 working days) loss in productivity per annum waiting for a kettle to boil

  • If you are a small business owner:

That’s a £8,918 and 647 hours (or 81 working days) loss in productivity per annum waiting for a kettle to boil

  • If you are a medium business owner:

That’s a £45,318 and 3,287 hours (or 411 working days) loss in productivity per annum waiting for a kettle to boil

Hot water taps provide instantly ready boiling water, no wasted time waiting for a kettle to boil – can your business afford to be without one?

Sources:

Business Wire Research & Markets

Statista

House of Commons Library

Why Choose AquAid Instant Hot Water Taps

Why Choose AquAid Instant Hot Water Taps

by | Mar 6, 2018 | aquaid, Hot Water Taps, instant tap, water cooler

Instant Taps are fast becoming a sleek and stylish alternative to more traditional water-points in office kitchens, breakout areas, boardrooms, and conferencing venues.  The benefits are numerous – they provide limitless hot, ambient or chilled water in one elegant solution, all at the touch of a button; they are stylish and compact, fitting neatly into a countertop with the boiler and chilling unit discreetly hidden underneath the worktop; and their instant supply of water improves efficiency, saving organisations both time and money.

When choosing instant hot water taps there are three factors to consider:

1) Your water requirements – do you require hot, ambient or chilled water, or is it a combination of all three?

2) Placement – do you want to create more space around the sink area itself, in which case the tap can be fitted with its own drain-away tray farther away; or if countertop space is limited do you want to install it on the edge of the sink or draining board itself?

3) And your preferred supplier – of all the reputable suppliers out there, why should you choose AquAid?

Apart from being the leading water cooler company in the UK for more than twenty years now, with 23 franchises across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland servicing over 30,000 customers – the major benefit in choosing AquAid Instant Taps is our service element. With us you have full peace of mind knowing that your installation will be professional and flawless, and that any services or repairs are included in our comprehensive service plans.

Most of the UK suffers from hard water scaling and too often companies choose hot water taps that don’t include a scale management filter or some form of service plan; or they’ve purchased the unit outright and scale related issues aren’t covered by warranty, which means that a few months after installation, things start to go wrong, resulting in very costly call-out and repair fees. But with AquAid rental plans – often far more affordable than buying the unit and then adding the cost of a maintenance plan on top of that – there’s no need to worry, because we ensure that the correct filters are installed from the start and our cost-effective and fully-inclusive service plans mean no unexpected and huge expenditure further down the line.

If you’re in the process of a new build or refurbishing your office kitchen, breakout area or any other refreshment point, with AquAid you can rest assured that you’re in the best hands, whatever your water needs may be. And not only will you benefit from high-quality products and exceptional service, but for a short time only you can save even more as we are also offering free installation and three months free rental on all our Instant Taps – be sure not to miss out.