Finding a solution to the challenge of motivating employees and retaining talent has proven difficult for some organisations. With the help of online and mobile ordering platforms could it have just got that little bit easier?
Think outside the box
Employee engagement in the UK is low at 58 percent, it’s no wonder retaining talent is so hard. Still, with the rising of the millennial generation and so many different employee personas to satisfy, that’s not surprising. Still, in an age when it is quick and easy for staff to move on from roles they are dissatisfied with, HR teams are increasingly focused on employee engagement and retention.
In an effort to combat disengagement, businesses are learning to recognise that individuals respond to different motivators. While one individual is driven by financial compensation, another wants exuberant social events and third needs professional recognition. Saying that, there are a few things companies can do to appeal to a wider range of staff.
Food is linked to productivity
They say food is the ‘way to a man’s heart’, but its effect is much bigger than that. Good, timely food is appreciated and welcomed by pretty much everyone.
During a busy day, it’s not unusual for a person to skip a proper lunch break simply because they don’t have time to spare standing in line, waiting to be served. That extra twenty minutes can be better served, they think, at their desk. This can backfire. Poor nutrition doesn’t only affect energy levels and mood, it has a negative impact on the work carried out. According to the British Dietetic Association (BDA), supporting regular eating patterns for workers can improve overall health and boost productivity. Better productivity should mean better results.
So how can a company hope to improve the lunch experience for staff and promote greater engagement and efficiency in the afternoons? Promoting faster and easier access to food is the obvious answer and one that companies have seen excellent results by doing.
Taking Swinton Insurance as an example. Its Salford office has a canteen provided by Totally Delicious. With food on-site and available throughout the working day, this is a great incentive and factor for employee engagement. However, its popularity does mean that queue times can build up. To tackle this it has released its own app, Canteen@Swinton, available on both Google Play and the App Store. Now employees can pre-order their food and drink for collection and there’s no longer any need for queuing or wasting precious lunchbreak minutes waiting in line for food. They can simply click, pay and collect.
Another, yet different example is The Common, an eatery located in co-working space, The Collective. With co-working offices springing up across the UK, its those which offer the best environments and perks that attract the most members.
The Common knows that diners appreciate being able to pre-order food for collection and some event prefer to remain in the co-working areas and have food delivered to them. Still others want to pre-book food for their visit. The Common worked with Preoday to design a platform that meets the entire range of its customers’ needs. The resulting mobile offering provides in-house delivery, pre-ordering and will soon include a table service option. Most importantly, it’s resulted in hundreds of happy workers.
The importance of employee engagement
Retaining talent is essential in 2018; no one wants to lose an employee if they can help it. According to research by Oxford Economics, the average company cost of replacing an employee is more than £30,000. That’s why it’s important to find ways that appeal and engage the wider workforce, not just the few that enjoy a half day shopping at Christmas or free prosecco on a Friday.
When companies offer perks that make every employee’s life happier, such as giving access to pre-ordered food, retaining talent becomes easier. All staff value convenience and they appreciate businesses that put their base needs at the front of their minds. Good food and a way of obtaining that food fast, meets those values.
If you want to improve employee engagement and think a pre-ordering service could help your business please get in touch now, we’re very happy to discuss your unique needs and work on a solution to any challenges you face.
It’s not as catchy as: ‘When is a door not a door?’ (answer, when it’s a jar) but it speaks to the idea that in-car collection, and the technologies that support it, are flexible enough to bend to the needs of a business and its guests.
Delivery can be daunting to the uninitiated, and it might be tempting to sign up with a third-party ordering aggregator that offers the service, such as UberEats, but other options could suit your business and brand better. Here we present three different ‘levels’ of delivery, starting with the most basic – and cheapest method: doing it yourself.
