Healthy manager: midday breakaway

Personal development / 01 May 2010

When work is piling up and deadlines are looming, skipping lunch can seem like an easy way to catch up. But not stopping to take a break can actually make you less productive, discovers Alison Hjul

‘Lunch is for wimps,’ proclaims anti-hero Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, Oliver Stone’s classic film about corporate greed. But perhaps Gekko would have fared better had he realised that it’s more enfeebling to miss lunch.

If you skip lunch, your blood sugar drops, affecting your brain function and energy levels. As the afternoon drags on, it’s difficult to concentrate, you’ll make mistakes, and work less effectively than colleagues who have taken a break.

“The lunch hour is an opportunity for people to reflect and refresh themselves,” says Ben Willmott, employee relations advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). “It’s also about being more productive. If you’ve been preoccupied with fulfilling tasks, you don’t necessarily see the big picture. If, however, you make time to walk around, clear your head and have something to eat, you’ll be in a much better state when you return to work.”

 

The lunch hour is an opportunity for people to reflect and refresh themselves. It’s also about being more productive. If you’ve been preoccupied with fulfilling tasks, you don’t necessarily see the big picture.

Ben Willmott, employee relations advisor, CIPD

Indeed, missing lunch has considerable downsides: excessive stress, ill health, absenteeism and, in certain jobs, an inability to focus can pose a health and safety risk.

“Not taking lunch can be an early warning sign that people are under pressure and struggling to cope,” says Willmott. Yet less than half of British workers are taking a proper break, according to a Spar convenience store survey in October 2009, which shows the average lunch ‘hour’ falling to just 35 minutes.

Desk jockeys

The recent recession has driven more of us to stay at our desks, with one in four skipping lunch and one in 10 taking less than 20 minutes. We kid ourselves that slogging through the day without a pause demonstrates true commitment to our jobs – even though many of us spend our lunch breaks catching up on emails and social networks.

Ironically, the bankers blamed for the recession still take time out in the middle of the day. Spar reports that those in the Square Mile, along with solicitors, advertising and PR executives, take the longest lunch breaks in the UK.

It’s certainly in the interest of employers to take the wellbeing of their staff more seriously. Research by David Lloyd Leisure health clubs in December 2009 found that employees who stick to a corporate wellbeing programme take five fewer sick days a year, while those who regularly exercise increase their productivity by 12.5%.

But a healthy workforce doesn’t have to be the preserve of those with access to on-site gyms, tailor-made exercise programmes and salad-stacked canteens. Small companies can, for example, offer subsidised membership of a local gym – research by Bristol University found that workers who regularly undertake exercise at lunchtime report better concentration, productivity and ability to cope with stress.
Companies without access to fitness centres could take advantage of warm weather and set up a lunchtime walking group to encourage employees to get out in the fresh air.

Light lunch

Sunlight not only lifts our mood but boosts supplies of vitamin D, which is naturally produced by the body to increase calcium levels for healthier bones and teeth.

Relaxing with colleagues outside the office helps working relationships and it can be a great leveller for managers to spend time with junior colleagues away from the pressure of the workplace. Unfortunately, managers are often the worst offenders, says Willmott. “They need to lead by example. If managers never leave their desks, they create a culture where that is the norm.”

However, they shouldn’t be prescriptive about how people take their break since, for some employees, the option to work flexible hours is paramount. “Some people wish to work through their lunch break because they want to go home early. If that’s how they want to organise their work, it may not be a bad thing.”

But what if a manager discourages you from taking a lunch break or organises your job so it’s difficult to do so? If your employment contract specifies a length of time for lunch, raise the issue with your manager or HR. If this has no effect, talk to your health and safety representative or trade union official. And, if you still can’t resolve the matter, claiming at an employment tribunal is an option.

Even without a contractual entitlement, the Working Time Regulations state that adult workers are legally entitled to a break of 20 minutes in a working day of more than six hours at a stretch. This break must be in one block, near the middle of the day and employees are allowed to spend it away from the premises.

Unfortunately, legal obligation is no deterrent for some bosses. But as Gordon Gekko makes his comeback in this year’s Wall Street sequel, will 20-plus years in prison have taught the disgraced broker that it’s wise rather than wimpish to make time for lunch?