3 Reasons Why Family-Style Dining May Replace the Office Break Room

Many employees are guilty of having a sad desk lunch, and those who do use the break room either hastily order something from a restaurant or rely on snacks. Many times, neither option is healthy.

Family-style dining is different. It encourages slowing down and taking a break while deepening relationships with co-workers. Oftentimes employers offer a free lunch from a corporate lunch caterer to entice employees to eat together.

While this may seem counterproductive and costly, family-style dining has numerous benefits. We’re sharing our top three.

It encourages teambuilding.

Lunch is an informal time to chatter with co-workers, meaning there’s less pressure when you’re off the clock. Employees are likely to build deeper relationships with their co-workers, which leads to a stronger team when they’re back on the clock as a result of stronger communication and a willingness to work together.

Your employees will be more productive.

Studies show that for every $1 spent on corporate lunch catering, $3 in employee productivity is gained. This productivity comes from deeper, more satisfying relationships with co-workers as well as gaining much needed nutrients to power through the afternoon.

We all know that skipping breakfast causes a sluggish morning but skipping or consuming an unhealthy lunch can also cause a sluggish afternoon. When you offer a healthy catered lunch, your employees’ productivity can skyrocket by as much as 150%!

Your employee retention rates will soar.

It’s costly to replace an employee (33% of their salary, in fact), and having a high employee turnover rate is a catalyst for low morale and even more employee turnover. Top ways to increase your employee retention rate include building camaraderie through a strong team, offering awesome benefits, and building communication. Family-style dining checks all of these boxes!

We spend more than 1/3 of the weekdays at work, and with that much time spent with our co-workers, it’s essential that they feel like a work family. Family-style dining is one way to help.

Meet Rootasters:

Meg is a dreamer, entrepreneur, and homesteader based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She loves her cats, feasting, and road trips in her green VW Bug.