As an office manager, you have a lot on your plate. One of your many jobs is to keep track of your team. It's not just about knowing their names and jobs, though. Knowing their personal interests, hobbies, and birthdays is beneficial for employee satisfaction—as is knowing their dietary needs. When you take the time to really get to know your employees on a personal level, you let them know that they're more than just another cog in the machine. Understanding employee preferences and needs shows that you care. When it comes to their diets, you're also showing that their safety is a major concern. Here are a few tips to help you keep track of your employees' dietary needs and cater to their food preferences.
The Importance of Knowing Your Team's Dietary Needs
- Increasing Employee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction is a vital component of your company's success. When everyone on your team is happy, productivity increases. Satisfied employees are less likely to call off. They provide better service to customers or clients. They're also less likely to leave.
There's a lot that goes into employee satisfaction, including getting to know everyone on a more personal level. In addition to inquiring about interests and hobbies, it's also important to get to know their dietary needs. When you show a genuine interest in your employees, they feel valued, and their overall happiness increases.
- Developing Effective Health and Wellness Programs
Employee health and wellness should be a top priority. Knowing dietary needs can help you to develop an effective employee wellness program. Whether you want to offer healthy food at the office or help employees find healthy options nearby, knowing dietary needs allows you to provide choices for everyone.
- Keeping Employees Safe
If you do choose to cater lunch, knowing everyone's dietary needs allows you to effectively communicate the information with your food service providers. Many food service companies like Sifted can cater to individuals with gluten allergies, dairy allergies, and the eight other major allergens. Not only does this help you to provide options for everyone, but it also helps to keep your employees safe.
How to Keep Track
So, how exactly do you go about catering to employee needs? There are several ways in which you can go about collecting vital data, including the dietary needs of your team.
- Ask During Onboarding
Many companies have a packet of forms that new hires need to fill out before they start working. In addition to collecting a new hire's name, contact information, and direct deposit information, several companies also inquire about hobbies, personal interests (such as favorite films or books), birthdays, T-shirt sizes, and more. You can also include a form that asks about food allergies and dietary restrictions. Knowing this information from the start will help you to avoid having to run around the office and ask for it every time you want to have lunch catered.
- Send out Surveys
If you didn't collect information from your employees from the start, send out surveys before you plan on having lunch catered. Inquire about employee preference, tastes, and food allergies. Keep the information stored on a master list so that you can easily share it with your cater. Send out surveys periodically so that you can ensure the list is always up to date and no one gets left out.
- Work with Your Food Service Provider
Some food service providers like Sifted send out food information and taste surveys during onboarding and again periodically throughout the year. Sifted keeps track of the data, which takes the burden off of you.
- Hold a Meeting
Before you have lunch catered, gather your employees together for a meeting. Ask for suggestions about where to get the food from. You can also use the meeting to gather data about everyone's particular preferences and what dietary needs anyone has. Together, you can all come up with a place that offers food that everyone will enjoy.
- Ask During Health Assessments
Many companies are providing employee wellness programs. These programs are designed to help improve employee health and are also beneficial in boosting happiness and productivity. Health risk assessments are a vital component for creating effective programs. During the assessments, be sure to inquire about food allergies and dietary needs. With this information, you can offer safe and healthy food options in the office as well as provide important nutritional information, restaurant suggestions, and healthy recipes.
Tips for Keeping Employees Safe
Catering to employee needs is about more than just providing food options for everyone. You also need to ensure their safety. Here are a few tips that can help you to keep your team safe while also making sure that everyone has a delicious, nutritious lunch at work.
- Distinguish between Employee Preference and Allergies
Food preferences and allergies are both important for ensuring that everyone gets a lunch that is safe and delicious. Allergies, however, can result in serious medical issues. If you have an employee with a severe shellfish or peanut allergy, for instance, keeping these foods out of the office rather than in a separate serving dish may be necessary.
- Set up with Dietary Needs in Mind
Food preferences and allergies are both important for ensuring that everyone gets a lunch that is safe and delicious. Allergies, however, can result in serious medical issues. If you have an employee with a severe shellfish or peanut allergy, for instance, keeping these foods out of the office rather than in a separate serving dish may be necessary.
If you’re relying on a food service provider for this, it’s important to have one that you trust. Working with a provider that is knowledgeable about dietary restrictions helps to ensure the safety of your team. Your team is provided with safe, nutritious, and delicious food, and you have one less thing to worry about when serving lunch.
- Keep a List of Caterers
Use your master list of dietary preferences and restrictions to interview different caterers. Make sure that any food service provider you hire can provide choices to meet the needs of everyone on your team. This way, you have multiple options. Some companies, like Sifted, vary their menus each week. Sifted always accommodates for the eight major allergens on every single menu. All menus are customizable and designed to cater to the many taste preferences eaters may have. If you work with a trusted food service provider, you'll always be able to provide something unique and delicious for everyone.
Providing healthy lunches for your team is a great way to boost energy in the workplace and increase productivity. Part of making sure everyone is happy and well-fed is providing food with your team's dietary needs in mind. When everyone is satisfied, your company can thrive.