Queuing up for lunch

We’ve all seen that famous old white-knuckle photograph. There’s a group of ironworkers having lunch sitting untethered on a steel girder way up in mid-air, dozens of floors above the street during construction of the Empire State Building. It must get the award for the most sparsely outfitted lunchroom ever.

In recent years, by contrast, managers at many companies have recognized the wisdom of providing more and more amenities. Most notably, tasty lunches and comfortable environments for de-stressing during breaks have become important perks to maintain employee morale — and aid in keeping them on the payroll in a time of high demand for workers.

Back in the ’70s when I first entered the workforce, if there was a lunchroom at the office with a coffee maker and maybe a fridge in it along with a table, that’s about all you could hope for. You could have a cup of coffee too — if you had paid your dollar into the monthly employee coffee fund.

Over the last couple of decades as I visited manufacturing and R&D facilities at both large and small ag equipment brands, though, one of the things I noticed is that nearly all companies have increasingly turned to providing cafeterias for workers that look more like nice restaurants and bistros than the old-fashioned employee lunchroom. If I remember correctly, one even had that famous Empire State Building photo hanging in it.

John Deere’s relatively new ISG building on the outskirts of Des Moines, Iowa, even includes a Starbucks counter. Walk through Kubota’s relatively new headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, and you’ll find coffee stations beside common areas, so employees don’t even have to venture to the main cafeteria when they’re in the mood for a quick cup of joe. Of course, whether or not employees are charged for what’s behind the counters in those cafeterias depends on the company. Some provide the food free of charge, others don’t. But where there are costs, the prices are generally pretty reasonable.

And having eaten in several of them, I can attest to the fact the meals are generally restaurant quality and well worth paying for.

The trend toward providing quality dining at worksites has become so commonplace that in Germany there is now an annual national award for the best onsite employee cafeteria. This year AGCO’s Fendt facility in that country stood out again in that department.

For the fourth time, the Food & Health Association has selected the 50 best canteens in Germany. The staff restaurant named GenussWERK at Fendt impressed an eight-member panel in the categories of “responsibility, health, enjoyment and we-feeling.” Food & Health awarded the staff restaurant four stars.

“The health of our employees is very important to us,” explains Ingrid Bussjaeger-Martin, managing director for finance and IT at Fendt. “And for us this includes both physical and mental health. As part of our health mission statement, we therefore wanted to offer our employees fresh and healthy food in a feel-good atmosphere. The high standards we set for our products are also reflected in our company restaurant. In our restaurant operator, Genuss & Harmonie, we have found a partner who understands and lives Fendt’s high quality standards. Together, we are very pleased that our GenussWERK was one of only 50 company restaurants in Germany to receive this award.”

The new company restaurant opened its doors at the beginning of 2021. The German word “Genuss” in its name can be translated as delight.

Three counters and a café bar in the large cafeteria serve a variety of dishes every day, and they are definitely not just greasy burgers off a griddle. The menu includes fresh, regionally sourced ingredients, without additives. Lunch is served between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. And it accommodates breaks through the day with coffee and patisserie specialties available in the morning and afternoon, as well as a hot meal for the late shift until 7:15 p.m.

“The basic idea behind the concept for our canteen is the creation of a central meeting place for our employees,” says Thomas Enghof, director central planning, describing the concept of the company restaurant. “When it comes to our range of different dishes, we pay a lot of attention to healthy, regional, seasonal and tasty dishes. And everything should be freshly prepared. In addition, the GenussWERK offers a friendly ambience for our colleagues’ lunch breaks, where they are happy to linger.”

The idea that employees are encouraged to linger in a lunchroom may seem as foreign to many old-time workers as the idea of a four-star restaurant for a lunchroom.

But even with its award, Fendt isn’t satisfied with the existing facility. It has plans to make the canteen even more inviting. In the future, Fendt employees will be able to spend their lunch break outside on the terrace when the sun is shining. A roof terrace is currently being extended above the production facility. In the summer of 2022, another 70 seats will be added to “invite employees to have lunch in the fresh air, drink a coffee or have a snack from the patisserie.”

So why should companies bother spending the money on four-star company cafeterias or complimentary coffee and pastries? Why not just provide an old-fashioned coffee maker and a fridge for lunch bags? Are there really any tangible benefits from that kind of investment?

Surveys suggest there are, and maybe more than one might expect.

According to Forbes business magazine, stock prices for Fortune’s “100 best companies to work for” grew by 14 per cent per year between 1998 and 2005. That compares to only six per cent for companies that didn’t make the list.

In his book The Truth About Employee Engagement, author Patrick Lencioni says it’s essential to make rank-and-file workers feel like they matter. Baby boomers might have been satisfied with a spartan lunchroom, but they have long been surpassed by millennials as the the largest birth cohort in today’s workforce. And Millennials expect more.

According to a study conducted by SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) 66 per cent of millennials reported that respectful treatment of employees was the top contributor to job satisfaction. That compares to a slightly smaller 63 per cent who reported pay and compensation was the prime factor and the 61 per cent said other benefits were the key.

SHRM’s summary of the survey boils it down to this: “Millennials typically place high importance on openness, equality, community and purpose. Building an inclusive feel within the organization will help establish an emotional connection between the employee and employer.”

Four-star dining with healthy meals and snacks provided throughout the day and served in a comfortable environment can certainly help make workers feel respected and right at home.

The boomer generation (the youngest of which are now 56 years old) represent about 22 per cent of the current workforce and are nearing retirement. Having that many workers about the leave the labour force is worrying enough. But the really bad news is they outnumber the current 15- to 24-year olds coming up to replace them, according to Stats Can.

All of that means finding employees will continue to be challenging for corporations. Retaining those that do sign on will become progressively more critical.

Employers — large or small — who think they can make the current generation of workers happy in their work without considering what the research shows they want and expect are in for disappointment.

Success may take more than some managers expect. It will certainly take more than it used to.

– This article was originally published as ‘How about lunch?’ in the July/August issue of Country Guide.