Is more food in the workplace a good thing?
Turns out the way to employees’ hearts really is through their stomachs.
Bagels by the printer. Pizza in the breakroom. Restaurant gift cards for a job well done. Keeping employees fed does so much more than just put a temporary smile on their faces. It also makes them more loyal to your company and may even improve office relationships, according to a new survey by Seamless, an online food ordering service.
Was this survey a little self-serving for Seamless? Sure, but the results shouldn’t be completely discounted.
Of the 1,225 full-time workers it polled:
- 57% said food-based perks would make them feel more valued by their employers
- 50% indicated that food-based perks would make them more satisfied with their employers
- 50% said they believe sharing a meal with colleagues helps foster better working relationships, and
- 41% said if their current employer provided meals, they’d be less inclined to accept a job offer at a company that does not.
In addition, when asked what perks employees would like most, food came in at No. 2 behind gym/yoga memberships.
And food-based perks finished third behind flexible vacation policies and gym/yoga memberships in the kinds of perks employees said would make them more inclined to rate their companies highly in a “Best Places to Work”-type survey.
More companies are delivering
Employees aren’t just wishing for more food, they’re actually getting it.
The survey found that food at work is on the uptick. In 2013, only 5% of the employees surveyed said they receive regular lunches at work, a number that more than doubled to 11% this year.
In addition, 11% more employees reported receiving some kind of food-based perks at work in 2014.
One word of caution
For those willing to offer food to employees, here’s a word of caution from Suzanne Lucas, a.k.a. The Evil HR Lady and 10 year corporate HR vet: It’s not as simple as ordering pizza once a week.
Lucas says it’s important to keep people with dietary restrictions in mind when ordering food. She says while you may not be able to please everyone with every meal you order, you also can’t completely ignore certain employees’ restrictions or it’ll build animosity.
So you’ll need to switch things up on occasion so everyone feels appreciated and included.
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