A foundation for success: This is the year to help employees eat better
Eating right gives employees energy to perform better at work and protects them from chronic conditions.
As we bid good riddance to 2020 and turned the page to what will hopefully be a brighter year, there’s a good chance your employees made resolutions to eat better, to shed those quarantine pounds, and to start working out again. There’s also a good chance that those resolutions fell by the wayside before January had come and gone. An estimated 80% of people fall short of their New Year’s resolutions, and it turns out that those related to healthy eating are among the hardest to keep.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that many people already have a head start on eating better. Because the COVID-19 pandemic made dining out risky or impossible, people have started cooking for themselves in greater numbers. And while there has been an understandable desire for comfort food in these challenging times, I have also seen many people make healthier meals the new norm.
Related: ‘Young foodies’ spark investment in gourmet office kitchens
There are important implications for employers in this shift, because employee nutrition affects more than just their weight. Eating right gives employees energy to perform better at work and protects them from chronic conditions that cost employers an estimated $36.4 billion each year.
In other words, your company can benefit along with your employees from these budding healthy habits. Doing so doesn’t require an investment in a new office kitchen or private cooking classes for employees. With a little well-thought-out instruction, employers can increase the odds that this interest in healthy cooking and eating continues long after we’re all back in the office.
Build a foundation
The best thing you can do to support a newfound interest in cooking is help employees build a strong foundation that allows them to progress from the basics to more elaborate meals. If you think this isn’t necessary, consider that 21% of millennials couldn’t fry an egg as recently as two years ago.
Use email or other internal communication tools to Inspire employees with classic recipes tweaked to boost nutritional value. For example, preparing spaghetti Bolognese with zucchini noodles in place of pasta makes the dish leaner, and Thai curry served on cauliflower rice cuts carbs by 90% and is ready to eat in 15 minutes.
That short prep time is crucial for employees who aren’t yet used to spending hours at a time in the kitchen. So is focusing on recipes with just a few, easy-to-find ingredients — especially now, when people may be less interested in spending extended periods in the grocery store.
You can also go beyond traditional recipes by using video tutorials to engage employees in the kitchen. There’s a reason views of YouTube “cook with me” tutorials increased by 100% during the pandemic. Or nudge budding chefs toward options that are both nutritious and delicious by providing links to trusted resources or access to licensed content about nutrition, easy-to-follow instructions, and even virtual cooking classes. Ideally, content should allow employees to explore new techniques as their skill level grows and they’re ready to tackle new challenges. Even better, look for globally-inspired options that help employees expand their culinary horizons.
Now that we are solidly into 2021, people are ready to move on and make a fresh start. Take the time to encourage new cooking habits or support the culinary skills that employees developed over the past year, and you can make healthy eating a habit that lasts all year.
Daniel Green is an internationally known chef, host, television personality, and award-winning author. He is a healthy-eating expert and world-renowned television celebrity cook in England, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and the United States. He also hosts a series of healthy-cooking video classes for Wellbeats, a content and software-as-a-service company that delivers on-demand, virtual fitness programming for corporate wellness programs.
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