Today we have a guest editorial as Steve is away on vacation.

I recently read the December 2014 edition of Inc Magazine and found an article titled Cooking Up Creativity that talks about a company where employees frequently cook lunch for the other employees. That’s interesting in a lot of ways. It’s a non-taxable “benefit” because the company isn’t providing your lunch. It’s reasonably inclusive, and most of us have something we know how to cook or are willing to try something someone else has cooked. It encourages mild risk taking – think about taking on cooking lunch for the company, there is some pressure! Maybe what I like most is that it wasn’t a directed idea; it just sprung up, but now the company is supporting it with a better kitchen. Want to bet whether or not it’s something you hear about when you interview there?

You can tell a lot about a company by how it handles lunch space. I’m wary of the ones that have a “break room” just big enough to heat some food or get some coffee, the ones that don’t encourage anyone to spend extra time there lest they be less than fully productive. I like the ones that have a kitchen that encourages interaction – tables and stools, a bar to sit at and eat and talk while someone else prepares their food. Enough refrigerator space and microwaves to support the lunch rush. Clean without being antiseptic.

Looking back at my career, I’m thinking about all the combinations I’ve seen of jobs and kitchens and the only one I can’t think of is a bad job with a great kitchen. My favorites had a great kitchen, a good on site cafeteria, or plenty of go out for lunch options nearby. Great kitchens won’t fix a bad job of course (though maybe it would make it a little more tolerable!), but would a great kitchen ever make a job worse? Not that I’ve ever seen.

I think the kitchen space matters, but am the exception or the rule? Do you care about the space provided for lunch (or breakfast, or dinner if you prefer)? Have you seen a correlation between how that space is set up and how you feel about working there?