Bringing a Taste of Wellness to Workstations

Companies providing employees with nutritious and wholesome meals strike the right balance in achieving a productive, creative and well-bonded team. Compass India’s study on ‘Eating at Work’ (EAW) suggests that energy and productivity levels peak between 9 am to 12 pm. Post-lunch these levels registered a sharp drop due to food intake with a high glycaemic index. Even as we peg it on natural human behaviour, with the right diet, one can boost those afternoon levels. Human resource teams plan for initiatives like sleeping pods, massage stations and yet the outcome continues to be a challenge. EAW research shows that these perks start great, but soon decline, that is, the usage of gyms was less than 2 per cent or 3 per cent. Also, ‘73% chose café meals as their preferred non-monetary perk, ranking ahead of flexible work hours and employee wellness programs’. Good food goes a long way in contributing to productivity. For many organisations, while wellness is a big part of their agenda, the role of food is still at its nascent stage. There is opportunity to elevate that. Hence, companies are taking constant intelligent decisions about workplace food.