Not having lunch impacts on business performance

British workers are terrible at taking lunch, more often than not taking lunch at their desk, according to a recent report.

The BBC reports:

Only one in six workers takes a regular lunch break, says new research. And one consequence of the credit crunch is that breaks are getting even shorter as job insecurity increases.

Are you reading this article while eating a sandwich at your desk?

If so, you are not alone. Research by human resources firm Chiumento has found that only 16% of employees regularly take a “proper” lunch break. By that, they mean about an hour’s break away from their desk at least three times a week.

The research though shows, that if you take a proper lunch break, your performance actually improves.

Managers should be encouraging staff to take lunch breaks – their performance, and ultimately the business, may suffer otherwise.

The key here is the culture of the organisation, do managers create a culture of working excessive hours and through breaks, or do managers create a culture of success and performance.

A successful business depends on people doing their job, not on how long they are at their desk. A manager who focuses on the time spent working, is missing the point about work, it is about performance and results, not time spent doing the job.

A good manager should be asking, if an employee is working through breaks and leaving late, are they working effectively, are they able to cope with their workload, are they performing at their best?