Even at the workplace let your people eat and bond together

One of the key questions I ask the people I bump into is: where do you have lunch? This question often elicits surprise, but I am not really being intrusive. You see, I firmly believe that eating is a huge part of culture; and what, where, and with whom employees eat their food is fascinatingly important.

I was delighted to see that idea reinforced in Centennials, by Alex Hill. That was one of the best books I read last year, and it is that rarity—a great book about business. Centennials studies long-lived organisations, those that get to celebrate a hundred years of existence. That’s a small but important subset requiring much observation. Mr Hill has helpfully captured some of their best habits—the ones that turn them into long-lived survivors.

And guess what one of those habits is? Breaking bread. Aha! Why is it so important for folks to eat together, such that even management researchers can see it? We know this to be true in our families and friendships, but in places of work?

Human bonding

Ask the soldiers first. When you are being asked to lay down your life in the defence of other people, it really, really helps if some of those people are akin to your family. That is why there is always a barracks culture at play in the military.

In Mr Hill’s words: “Friendships forged, regular routines, the constant expression of likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, bring each fighting unit together." It’s not the food per se that has this effect: it’s the kinship and communion that leads to human bonding and cultural glue. Those who achieve this, says the research, are likely to find their staff happier, less stressed, and more creative.

Working in your organisation may not be a matter of life and death, but these results hold across sectors and industries. Shared food and mealtimes are one of the drivers of good culture—and good culture is a key ingredient in organisational longevity.

Back in the day, many organisations seemed to know this. The staff canteen was a commonplace feature of large organisations. Sadly, many fell under the spell of bean counters and took out the beans. The individualistic culture that took root across businesses globally led to the flawed thought that people should not get communal benefits. They should choose how to spend their money.

They should eat what they want to pay for, and where they want to eat it. Enter the “al desko” era, filled with lunch loners, cubicle eaters, and keyboard munchers.

It seems simple, almost trivial: colleagues eating together, gathered around a table. Yet this act, repeated often enough, holds a quiet magic. What’s on the plate is fleeting; what’s shared across the table endures.

When employees break bread together, hierarchies blur. Conversations meander from projects to passions, deadlines to dreams. Bonds form not in meeting rooms but over shared laughter, borrowed fries, and the stories of lives lived outside work. These moments knit us closer together, weaving camaraderie and kinship into the fabric of our teams.

Connection

Culture isn’t decreed—it’s lived. And culture thrives on connection. Sitting down together—regularly, without an agenda—creates a space where people show up as themselves, not just as job titles. It’s in these informal spaces that we see the human side of our colleagues: the quirks, the humour, the wisdom. These glimpses build the empathy and trust that make workplaces hum with engagement and energy.

Introverts: don’t freak out. I’m one of you, and I’ve got you. Of course the solo lunch while browsing through our fave content, no small talk needed, is a big deal for us, and I’m not trying to force everyone into unwanted socialisation. The bigger picture, though, is that teams that feel connected collaborate better and stay together longer. We all have to find a personal balance between privacy and kinship.

For firms, here’s what works for big names such as Google and Facebook, Burberry and Pret A Manger. Create a shared and pleasant open space where people can choose to eat, chat, hang out. Serve some food there, at least some of the time, at zero or low cost to employees. But don’t stop at the basics.

Use this space as the heart of your culture. Celebrate milestones here, host spontaneous appreciation moments, and encourage cross-team mingling. Make it a place where laughter echoes, ideas spark, and a sense of belonging is constantly renewed. And never, ever make it a place for just the troops. The colonels and generals must also break bread with the infantry.

You may just find that you turn colleagues into comrades and workplaces into second homes.

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