It would not be wrong to connote lunchtimes as “rush times”. If we talk in the Indian context, the employees are either going out to have lunch, placing an order online, eating the home-cooked food or just skipping it altogether. This humdrum leads to wastage of time (up to or more than 1.5 hours daily) and illness as many employees opt to eat from roadside stalls as well.
What is more worrisome is the plight of Millennials and Generation Z. Most of them migrate from their hometowns to the urban and metropolitan cities to become independent. Managing expenses with what they earn because of the experience constraint makes it hard for them to save or lead a good lifestyle. Besides, such bachelors find cooking way too exhausting and hence resort to Sandwiches, Maggi or ordering all sorts of junk and unhealthy snacking.
Clearly, munching on everything unhealthy and then drinking the Green Tea from the office won’t nullify the damage. So, we at Uneecops decided to make lunch complimentary for our employees.
Providing free lunches in offices is indeed a great employee welfare initiative. Here is how it helps the organisation and its employees. Take a look.
Improves productivity:
The employees walk out of the office to the eateries in chilling winters and scorching summer heat. Either they end up eating quickly taking one bite after the other or they extend their break timings daily. This comes in the way of goal achievement and decreases productivity. By making healthy and delicious food available to them inside the office cafeteria for free doesn’t just make you “nicer” but also improves the health, and adhering to the break hours. This, in turn, surges productivity.
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Decreases attrition rate:
Employees change job due to a number of reasons, one of the less talked about reason is the distance. Some employees travel by metro, some pay the high fare for cabs. Commuting daily from where the employees live to their workplace while facing a lot of congestion becomes extremely exhausting. Even when the work environment is good enough, employees due to distance, traffic congestion and high fare think of changing their jobs. To prevent the same, you can provide them perks like flexible timings, great incentives and ofcourse free food. This may seem nominal but in actuality, the ease that it provides to the bachelors, and working women is significantly high.
Boosts employee health:
Eating from roadside stalls or ordering food from a restaurant online daily takes a toll on the health and activeness of the employees. According to a survey, poor health costs $576 billion a year. Out of the same, $227 billion is attributed to lost productivity due to employee absenteeism.
When you give them home like relishing food in the office cafeteria for free, they stay healthy. This also shows employees how much you value them.
Increases punctuality:
Most bachelors (especially females) or working women and mothers who don’t order, cook for themselves or pay to a maid for cooking. Providing free lunches can help the employees in being on time to the office as they will come worry-free to the office and would not need to wake up early.
Escalates your brand image:
The more you think in the direction of employee welfare, the more they fall in love with the company and its culture. Moreover, they start flaunting the perks they get by working for you amongst their peers, family members and acquaintances. This elevates your brand image and attracts “Purple Squirrels” aka best candidates towards your company.
Seeing the umbrella of benefits, we at Uneecops Technologies Limited have rolled this employee welfare scheme from the 15th of this month. Our employees are even happier as they have one more thing to boast about the perks they have here. What do your employees flaunt?
On the side note, if you are on a tight budget, you can provide free lunches on alternate days or on Mondays or Fridays.