You’re probably aware that learning and development (L&D) initiatives serve a very practical, immediate purpose: they enable employees to gain the knowledge and capabilities to close skill gaps and progress in their careers. But their greatest value may be how they meaningfully improve employee engagement.
First, it's essential to recognize that employee engagement is not the same as job satisfaction. The concept of engagement refers to employees’ relationship with, and enthusiasm for, their workplace as a whole. When employees are confident that their companies are invested in their intrinsic growth and success, it can actually matter more to them than if they’re simply given extrinsic incentives such as increased pay or work-life balance.
The most useful L&D programs don’t just focus on education and upskilling – they fuse capability building with team bonding to deliver memorable experiences that can help hone new skills, both personally and professionally. That’s why culinary events can be so effective.
What is culinary team building?
It’s well-established that organizations can strengthen their team bonds over food, with shared snacks, breaks, meals, and office events helping to create a sense of camaraderie and cohesion, as well as a space to have conversations and iterate on ideas. And research from DoorDash has found that nearly nine in ten companies recognize that providing food at work makes employees feel more valued.
Culinary team building combines these benefits with L&D programs. Through different cuisine-based experiences and workshops, employees have a chance to collaborate, innovate, problem-solve, and learn new skills while creating, preparing, and sharing food.
The professional benefits of culinary team building activities
There are plenty of personal benefits for employees that can come from culinary team building, because it encourages a more engaged and positive relationship with food:
Learning about nutrition and better eating habits enables employees to take care of themselves, boost their immune systems, improve energy levels, and take a proactive approach to preventing illnesses and chronic health issues.
Gaining culinary skills also leads to a greater sense of autonomy, capableness, and wellbeing, as demonstrated in academic research — which is why therapists who treat anxiety, depression, and other psychological problems may prescribe cooking.
Beyond the many personal benefits, there are a range of professional benefits that culinary team building can bring. When food is part of a L&D experience, it nourishes employees and helps them perform at their best. These types of professional team building ideas provide a space where people can collaborate and innovate together, develop new interests, and hone soft skills such as communication, coaching, and mentorship of other team members.
All of this helps to bolster engagement — that measure of how meaningfully employees relate to their place of work and the people they work with. And that, in turn, affects job satisfaction, retention, and performance.
Examples of culinary team building ideas for work
There are a number of creative possibilities when it comes to incorporating culinary events and experiences into your L&D initiatives. Here are some ideas of how culinary team building ideas can be deployed effectively and impactfully at work.
1. Culinary experiences
By combining a party, banquet, or excursion with an educational opportunity, culinary experiences bring teams together to learn about food, how it’s made, or where it comes from. Think about a farm-to-table concept for a long table event with local producers, or a learning session about wine tasting and food pairing.
2. Cooking classes
Similar to how therapists will use cooking to improve their patients’ mental health, set employees up for success at work and in life with hands-on learning sessions preparing different types of cuisine. Baking or sushi-making classes can offer employees more specialized cooking techniques, while cocktail or mocktail workshops can be a great way to engage hybrid and remote teams.
3. Contest-based activities and events
Turn your culinary L&D initiative into a contest to playfully raise the stakes. A cake decorating competition — or building gingerbread houses during the holiday season — can get everyone engaged while imbuing the session with a sense of joy and humor. There’s no shortage of creative thinking and team building when employees get to collaborate on fun, food-forward challenges.
4. Office team building events
An office potluck, a monthly happy hour, or a recurring team lunch where everyone selects their own meals can give your team something to look forward to and help cultivate a sense of solidarity. If you’re looking to maximize team building with knowledge sharing, have guest speakers present lunch-and-learns, and extend meal credits or vouchers to employees so they can choose their own food.
5. Charitable causes
Whether making and selling food for a fundraiser, volunteering at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, or preparing dishes for a local school or nursing home, there are numerous ways that culinary team building can add value to the community and enable employees to contribute to causes they care about.
Integrating culinary experiences into learning and development programs
Behind all the other metrics of employee performance, productivity, and success, engagement is foundational — and if there are two ways that you can meaningfully enhance employee engagement, it’s through learning and development programs and shared meals.
That’s why culinary team building activities are so powerful for learning and development. They confer both personal and professional benefits on employees by providing a sense of satisfaction, confidence, competence, achievement, and enjoyment.
Several types of events can enable you to bring culinary team building into your workplace. But to simplify the process of providing your teams with food at work — and to ensure they have the autonomy to choose meals that match their individual dietary needs — DoorDash for Business is a solution designed for teams like yours.
