FOX Business correspondent Madison Alworth discusses how the trend is affecting careers in “The Claman Countdown.”
In post-pandemic times, many employers and companies continue to require their workers to return to the office – and some workers are responding with a particular form of resistance.
First, there was the trend of “quiet abandonment,” in which workers did the bare minimum at work to make ends meet — and now there's “coffee badging,” another form of worker protest, according to plant managers and experts .
Read on to learn more about this career trend, how it's impacting offices across the country, and what actions can be taken in response.
What is “Coffee Plaque”?
While some employees are being called back to the office, many are subtly protesting by returning to the office for as short a time as possible, Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs in Boston, told FOX Business.
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“The coffee badge is about employees showing up at the office with enough time to drink a cup of coffee, show their face and swipe their badge – and then go home to do the rest of their work.” said Weishaupt.
His company, Owl Labs, which makes 360° video conferencing equipment, has delved into the data on this trend.
The new trend of “coffee badging” in the workplace appears to be a response to companies demanding more employees return to the office. (iStock / iStock)
“Our State of Hybrid Work 2023 report found that only about one in five workers (22%) want to be in the office full-time, with 37% wanting hybrid work options and 41% preferring to work fully remotely,” Weishaupt said.
According to a study, more than half (58%) of hybrid workers are “coffee badgers.”
Additionally, he said the Owl Labs study found that more than half (58%) of hybrid workers “drink coffee,” while another 8% said they hadn’t yet but would like to try it.
How do employees get away with the “coffee badge”?
People at all levels of companies and organizations are busy with their own jobs and therefore don't have time to keep track of everyone else's whereabouts, Weishaupt said.
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“If a coffee badger doesn't have face-to-face meetings or a desk near the boss, the person may not be missed,” he said.
“Our data shows that around two-thirds of managers (64%) have a 'coffee badge' themselves, with another 6% wanting to try it,” he also said.
“If a company finds that most of its employees are wearing coffee badges, this could reflect the need to re-evaluate the company culture and work-from-home policies.” (iStock / iStock)
“Less than a third of managers (30%) want to spend the whole day in the office.”
Why is this trend emerging now?
Niki Jorgensen, managing director of customer implementation at Insperity in Denver, told FOX Business that the coffee logo made headlines a few months ago as the latest work trend.
“Coffee passes are simply the latest example of the challenges companies face as their employees return to the office post-pandemic,” she said.
How can companies address this?
It's important for each company to conduct their own coffee logo research, Jorgensen suggested.
“There is no need to panic when it comes to drinking coffee, but if a company finds that most of its employees have coffee badges, that could reflect the need to re-evaluate the company culture and work-from-home policies.” she told FOX Business.
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Often, but not always, the coffee badge is a reflection of employee dissatisfaction with a company's culture or hybrid policies, Jorgensen said.
“For business leaders who expect employees to spend a full day in the office, displaying coffee badges can seem disrespectful or even rude,” she said.
“In many cases, employees drink coffee because they want to improve their work-life balance.” (iStock / iStock)
Still, “it is important to understand that the motivations behind coffee labeling are rarely malicious,” she clarified.
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“In many cases, employees drink coffee because they want to improve their work-life balance.”
Three fixes to consider
Company managers may want to focus on some strategies to stop coffee drinking among employees, Jorgensen said.
“To address this, invite employees to talk about their workplace experiences and share solutions to help them more easily balance their work and home lives,” she said.
When can the coffee logo harm the business?
If the practice becomes too widespread among employees, the trend can impact company culture, Jorgensen said.
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“When workers only come in and out of the office for a short time, they don't spend as much time in face-to-face interaction,” she told FOX Business.
“Over time, this can impact relationship building and impact collaboration.”
“Instead of constantly changing and making who is where unpredictable,” one workplace expert said, companies could “create a schedule that meets people in the middle.” (iStock / iStock)
Emily Ballesteros, founder of Burnout Management, LLC in Seattle and author of the upcoming book “The Cure for Burnout: How to Find Balance and Reclaim Your Life” (February 2024), told FOX Business that the coffee logo is a downside The trend is that this creates unpredictability that can have an impact on others.
“Where there is unrest, there is usually a need that needs to be met.”
“Trying to schedule meetings when you’re not sure who’s virtual or in-person; plan travel to and from the office; needing clarification about whether a meeting is virtual or in-person, etc. — all of that adds a little bit.” “The workday becomes more unpredictable, which can lead to frustration,” Ballesteros said.
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To reduce unpredictability, many companies are adopting hybrid schedules.
“They've seen in surveys that their employees would like the flexibility to work from home sometimes,” she said.
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“So instead of constantly changing and being unpredictable about who is where, they create a schedule that meets people in the middle, for example by saying everyone works from home Monday and Friday and everyone works from the office Tuesday through Thursday are,” remarked Ballesteros.
“Where there is unrest, there is usually a need that needs to be met.”
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