Gone are the days when your employees would pick up a steel plate and go around a fixed menu for lunch or dinner before getting back to work. Offices are noticing a great transition from the boring cafeterias, which encouraged timeliness in eating and getting back to work. The modern office embraces the need to allow employees to socialize and network in order to encourage creativity in the office space and better employee-employer bonds. If you begin renovating your office then here are a few things you should analyze before you get down to the design and layout:
1. What is the employee demographics in your office?
The age, ethnicity and socio-economic backgrounds of your employees will make a difference in the office layout. If your employees are from different cultures, then to promote better collaborations, you can consider building inclusive cafeterias that allow people to bond with each other over a cup of tea or coffee.
2. What are the functional roles of employees working in the company?
Is the cafeteria being designed for the corporate office, where the main functional roles of employees would include a lot of leaders and top management employees? Or is it being designed for the middle workforce that has specific work schedules and limited breaks? Top management will prefer a layout where they can work out of the cafeteria and even sit down with a client or colleague in the cafeteria to informally discuss a project. Middle and lower management will have different needs.
3. What price points are you looking at?
Cafeterias for corporate offices are usually designed with a higher price point in mind, while those for the lower management will usually involve longevity and durability more than aesthetics in mind.
4. What additional activities other than eating will take place in the cafeteria?
Some cafeterias are used as collaborative workspaces as well. In some cases, employees may visit the cafeteria in search for a quiet place where they can work comfortably without any disturbance. Will you want your office cafeteria to allow such activities?
By personalizing the office cafeteria design to make sure that the cafeteria offers a positive environment for employees helps businesses encourage higher employee satisfaction.