Health Promoting Applications in Workplace and Evaluation of Employee Satisfaction with Catering Services

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the satisfaction of employees with catering services, the factors that determine consumer meal satisfaction, and the practices for the protection and promotion of health in the workplace.

Subjects and Method: The study consists of 666 employees working in different public institutions in Ankara, [18-65 age range, 290 men (43.5%), 376 women (56.5%)]. The data were obtained through a questionnaire. A 39-question questionnaire was created in order to evaluate the satisfaction of the participants with the catering services. Questionnaire scores are classified as below 60 points as “unsatisfactory”, 60-74 points as “moderate”, 75-84 points as “good” and ≥85 points as “very good”. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was determined as 0.88.

Results: The three most important factors affecting the satisfaction from catering services are hygiene (79.7%), food quality (78.5%) and the variety of the meals on the menu (51.2%), respectively. Satisfaction with catering services was determined to be 65.8 ± 11.87 and the score was higher in men than women (p<0.05). While the frequency of individuals who evaluate their satisfaction as “very good” was 5.7%, in the inadequate class was 31.7%. Employees stated, 82.0% of the institutions do not have practices promoting healthy nutrition, and 69.0% do not offer potential opportunities for health promotion activities. Among the services to encourage healthy eating the three most common services are convenient facilities for hand washing (79.4%), access to drinking water (67.0%), and healthy food options (37.1%).

Conclusion: The results show the necessity to implement standards for catering services in institutions and to increase the taste, quality and variety of meals in order to increase the satisfaction of the employees with the catering services. Therefore, workplaces should apply the Turkish Ministry of Health’s guidelines for menu planning and healthy eating practices to have positive effects on employee’s health, motivation and productivity.