Tess Taylor 
If you are like most business owners, you are always looking for ways to improve your company. Top-notch employees with the highest morale at the lowest operating cost possible—who doesn’t want to achieve that in the workplace? But perhaps you are experiencing the less than desirable side of employee morale?
According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of employee turnover can be as much as 25% of their salary. If your company is experiencing a high percentage of staff exiting these numbers can quickly add up. However, even if you aren’t actively losing employees, a low morale in the workplace can have a host of detrimental effects within the workplace. The interactions between staff and clients, worker productivity and the amount of profit you are capable of bringing in can all suffer at the hands of low morale in the workplace.
While there are a host of solutions to these problems one such answer may be something that has yet to cross your mind. Appease those appetites (and I’m not just talking about your offices weekly donut day)! Look no further than corporate catering. The occasional office catering’s implications into morale and productivity can do wonders for your business. Here’s why:
Lower Costs Equals Higher Morale
Think about all the times that somebody has bought you lunch. Think about how you felt. When somebody gives you something, you are more appreciative toward them, and you want to please them in return. This isn’t the perfect analogy, but it helps to drive the point home that people like free stuff, and they like people that give them free stuff. When morale is high like that, you will see more effort in the workplace, and higher rates of production. There’s no such thing as a free lunch? Your employees may beg to differ.
Good Food Brings Good Employees
Offering a great 401k package, health benefits, company cars, or gym memberships might not be the way you want to go when setting up perks for your employees. Some smaller companies might not be able to afford some of the more traditional benefits that employers offer, while other employers might want to differentiate themselves from the rest of the crowd by offering something more “out of the box” than the conventional perks—what better way to do this than corporate catering? Remember that your employees are the life-blood of your company, and that you will get out of them what you put into them. By providing a quality work environment, you will attract quality workers.
Let’s go back to that idea of quality. When looking into supplying the occasional catered event for your company, consider foods that will even further boost your employee’s productivity, alertness and energy. While the glucose levels in the Friday donut will up production for about 20 minutes, right after that levels will drop lower than they were before and you have effectively cut down on productivity. Consider catering with food that will aid you and not be to your detriment. Foods that are low on the glycemic index will slowly release glucose into the body which allows for more sustained energy levels and not the quick spikes that come with foods that are high in sugar.
Occasional Catering is Always Pleasing
A lot of people worry that hiring a corporate caterer for their companies will break their bank. This is definitely a possibility depending on how the company runs, what types of profit they are making, how many employees are working in-house, etc. For that reason, it might be better for some companies not to offer food provided by corporate catering every day of the workweek. Still, offering food to your employees every Monday and Friday, or just every Friday, or even every other Friday can be a way that you keep costs down, but still reap the benefits that hiring a corporate caterer can sow. Remember: great companies consider all options before saying “no”. Review your budget and weigh the benefits before you completely throw the idea out the window.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask about discounts. If a catering company knows that they can rely on your business frequently they might be willing to save you a few bucks here and there in exchange for continued service.
Great Catering Makes For Great Business Meetings
In the event that you are taking even a handful of employees out for a business meeting or some kind of an employee training activity, consider doing the meeting in-house and providing catering. A recent article from the Statesman Journal compares two groups on Capitol Hill, one group using a caterer and the other utilizing restaurants such as Qdoba and P.F. Chang’s. Guess who racked up the higher bill? The group that wasn’t using the catering service! As a means of saving money for corporate events, corporate catering services are the way to go.
This is not, of course, an exhaustive list. If you have any of your own reasons why corporate catering is great (or is not great—disagreement and discussion are always great things to have!), leave them in the comments section below.
GUEST POST brought to you by Trisha Jefford, who is a self-proclaimed foodie who loves scouring the net for new ideas and trends in food creation and presentation. She currently writes and blogs for the website EZ Cater a site that specializes in helping you find local catering or the perfect corporate caterer.
