Can your agents eat and drink at their desks? - The feedback
Last week’s topic on agents eating and drinking at their desks caused quite a stir (no pun intended). Responses ranged from lukewarm to boiling hot. The exploding coffee cup amused us most.
If you have missed out on having your say - now is your chance.
At the Contact Centre Planning 2008 conference Nigel from the Metropolitan Police outlined an interesting dilemma that his management team were faced with. Very simply, it was whether call centre agents should be allowed to drink at their desks. In the end the Met Police decided that they should let their agents drink what they wanted and provided their agents with spill-proof mugs.
I did a straw poll of a number of call centre managers and found the topic was a bit of a hot potato and one that occupied a surprising amount of management time. Some allowed just water, some allowed hot and cold drinks at the desks and others only allowed spill-proof mugs and bottles with sports caps.
What is your experience? What is your food and drinks policy - and how do you enforce it?
Leave your opinions in the comments box below.
We allow employees to drink hot and cold drinks (no booze) at their desks.
We also provide a kettle and free tea and coffee to all our employees.
Comment by jamesportcullis — April 30, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
Diet coke can be a bit of a problem. I have been caught out a few times as if you drink it too quickly it has a tendancy to make you burp. It can be a bit embarrassing to hold it in while you are on a call.
Comment by Ted Smith — April 30, 2008 @ 2:47 pm
We allow water at desks but nothing else. In the past we have had coffee in keyboards and ring marks on paperwork. This is not professional.
Staff are provided with free tea, coffee and sugar and have paid breaks away from their desks in a staff room where they are encouraged to stretch their legs and socialise. This means that when they are at their desk they are not permitted to socialise and they give good value for money to our clients.
Comment by Julia Scott - Base Connections — May 1, 2008 @ 8:06 am
We are allowed to have any hot or cold drink (except alchohol, of course) at our desks. Only once or twice have I witnessed a colleague have an accident - usually resulting in soggy paperwork and a ruined keyboard
Comment by Richard Jennings — May 2, 2008 @ 7:50 am
Our call centre staff may also drink any hot or cold drinks.
We have a bit of a problem with snacks though. We have a trolley that visit our call centre agents twice a day with snacks (chocolates/chips/etc), but find that some agents will have a full meal at their desk.
Worst case scenario has been a full plate of fish and chips, enjoyed by hand, no less.
Its difficult to draw a line between a snack and a meal.
Any suggestions?
Comment by Nita — May 2, 2008 @ 8:53 am
hi. this is a challenging subject matter. within my department, we have designed a green room for agents to have their tea/coffee during tea breaks. however during the times when one is not able to leave the desk, agents are allowed to have tea/coffee on their desk.
Comment by MARGARET — May 2, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
We let our agents eat and drink at their station.
It does get messy, so everyone is to clean up after themselves. Third shift is supposed to make sure everything is clean for the morning.
Comment by Brent W — May 3, 2008 @ 1:09 am
we’re allowed to eat sandwiches, chips (but not soup) at our work station. being adults, we are responsible in cleaning up the mess that we make.
Comment by lynne — May 4, 2008 @ 8:22 am
We provide a free vending machine that provides tea, coffee, hot chocalate, water, and squash however only water is permitted at the agent’s desks unless they have a spill proof cup but we will not supply new ones if the agents are too lazy to clean their own cups which in turn end up in the bin - you have no idea how often mouldy cups are found - one agents lid from her cup blew off when she left a certain diet mixture in it for a couple of days - we are all adults but it doesn’t mean we all clean up the mess we make!
We also give our agents 2 15 minute breaks and a 45 minute lunch, so there is plenty of time for them to grab a drink away from their desks but we only deduct them 30 minutes in wages for breaks.
Comment by Emma M — May 5, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
We allow agents to drink at the their desk providing they have spill proof mugs or sport caps on. Eating at the desk is not permitted.
Comment by Julie Whitehead — May 6, 2008 @ 7:05 am
We provide free vending machines with Tea,Coffee cold drinks and soup, we do allow agents to drink at their desks they are allowed snacks but not picnics, however we still have the odd one or two who slip through the net.
I think the idea of the spill proof cups are a really good idea.
Comment by claire church — May 6, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
I think any callcentre that wants to retain their staff, needs to keep them happy and with the feeling of being in a relaxed environment.
Having easy access to refreshments when needed is all part of that, and office should be laid out and designed with that in mind.
This will help avoid accidents that could damage equipment.
Comment by peter hume — May 7, 2008 @ 1:52 pm
At my Contact Centre, agents are allowed to drink only water at their desks when they are in spill proof containers and or bottles with tight coverings.
Comment by Thelma — May 12, 2008 @ 7:37 am
I allow my agents to eat or drink as they wish. I do not limit them on the types of food or drink they are allowed to have. Their job requires them to sit in one spot for several hours at a time which can cause fatigue and a lowered mood. I believe that they deserver to be treated like adults as long as they act like adults. If they are caught talking on the phone with a mouthful or leaving a mess at their desk, they lose their privileges for a period of time and it never happens again.
Comment by Christopher — May 13, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
We allow agents to drink hot/cold beverages at their desk and this is particularly nice as some people cant start the day with a nice cup of coffee in the mornings while checking their work.
The downside about it is that they start storing cups and saucers underneath their desk which is usually picked up when agents starts looking for cups.
Comment by Juliaj — May 14, 2008 @ 12:09 pm