Organizational Climate and Change in Mentality
One of the great challenges of work psychology and those involved in human resources is the constant improvement of the organizational climate.
Even in Italy, where historically the more hours you work, the more productive you are considered, the mentality is changing: the increase in productivity is getting more and more correlated to the positivity and pleasantness of the working environment.
Why is The Lunch Break Important?
Eating together is one of the experiences that most unites us and makes us feel part of a community. Director Ferzan Özpetek knows this well, having made large meals a distinctive hallmark of his films.
In addition to being fundamental from a nutritional point of view, the lunch break contributes to satisfying various psychological needs:
1. Greater Productivity
First of all, eating a healthy and balanced lunch has a strong positive impact on your productivity and performance of the day. Skipping the lunch break or drastically reducing its duration apparently saves time, but in reality causes poor concentration in the following working hours. On the contrary, stepping away from your desk and consuming a balanced meal based on whole grains, proteins, fruit and vegetables contributes to physical well-being.
2. Team building
Creating social situations in the workplace is important and the lunch break with colleagues and collaborators represents the highest moment of sharing.
Eating together creates a relaxed situation without formalism, which helps improve relationships, cohesion and motivation. For this reason, it is an effective team building tool to more easily bring out critical issues, problems, suggestions and topics.
3. Improvement of The Organizational Climate
The organizational climate is the perception of the work environment by the people who live there every day. We must distinguish between psychological climate, i.e. individual, and organizational climate, which concerns the entire organization. The latter refers to a dimension shared by the people who make up the company and it depends on some variables such as:
- the quality of relationships with colleagues
- collaboration with colleagues
- team cohesion
- relationship satisfaction
- the sense of belonging to the company
- motivation
- a system of incentives
All these variables can be somewhat strengthened by the lunch break.
A New Canteen for The Lunch Break
Not only is the lunch break a right established by law, but it also represents an investment in the well-being and performance of the organization. Therefore, it is worthwhile to dedicate attention to the methods and ways of offering this important benefit.
At TEC-SIM, we have recently recovered an abandoned wing of the company to create a recreational room with a canteen. This welcoming and comfortable space aims to ensure a pleasant lunch break experience. It is a place where the team can spend the right amount of time to have a quality meal away from the desk and with the colleagues.
«We have reinterpreted the space of the lunch break as a resource for the organizational climate because we believe that the well-being of the person is central and that the success of the company depends on the happiness of the organization» Gabriele Da Re, TEC-SIM CEO.
