The ‘bento box’ approach that shapes stronger work cultures

As traditional top-down management styles face growing scrutiny regarding their effectiveness, a founder of a leadership consultancy suggests that organisations should adopt the “bento box” strategy to foster healthier workplace environments.

Speaking with HR Leader, Dr Siew-Fang Law, co-founder of leadership consultancy Bento Box of Care and co-author of The Power of Care, shared the importance of adopting a “bento box” approach to workplace culture and the practical steps an organisation can take to weave this approach into its structure.

For her, the “bento box” approach within the context of workplace culture represents an “interconnected system” that necessitates balance across various dimensions, including “individual wellbeing, employee relations, overall organisational culture, and a deeper sense of being”.

She explained that this innovation model draws inspiration from the “philosophy and sociology of the Japanese lunchbox”, where each separate compartment is filled with differing types of food to contribute to a “complete and diverse meal”.

By adopting the “bento box” philosophy, Law explained that organisations purposefully “nurture holistic safety leadership and foster a culture of care” in their workplaces.

The benefits

Law cautions that leaders who cling to traditional management frameworks and approaches risk “becoming inadequate” in tackling and addressing “deep-seated workplace cultural issues”.

In contrast, the “bento box” approach seeks to help leaders move beyond “a culture of apathy” towards a more balanced and compassionate environment where “everyone in the organisation benefits”.

She conveyed that leaders who adopt this distinctive approach can promote “holistic safety leadership qualities”. As a result, these leaders can “foster a sense of balance, have a more profound understanding of cross-functional teams’ needs, offer new thinking, and provide diverse opportunities for growth”.

Law indicated that by nurturing these qualities within the workplace, leaders establish a culture of respect and empowerment that positively impacts “various aspects of their [employees’] lives”. She noted that this approach leads to heightened “engagement levels”, which fosters “improved motivation, retention and productivity”.

“Organisations that embrace this model could intentionally embody leadership practices that have a positive impact on overall performance, with lower turnover rates and higher levels of employee satisfaction translating into better organisational outcomes,” she said.

How to implement this approach

So, how can organisations practically incorporate the “bento box” philosophy into their workplace structures, policies, and daily operations?

According to Law, the process of incorporating this approach starts with leaders taking some time to reflect on “their inner state of being and checking in on their inner resources”.

“Leaders’ mindsets and underlying beliefs about workplace culture are pivotal in shaping their workplace culture, systems, structure, policies, and processes moving forward,” she said.

The next step Law shared is for leaders to perform a “systemic workplace culture assessment” by utilising the “bento box” models and methods to examine the “interconnectedness of leadership, employee relations, and organisational enabling elements” within the organisation.

She explained that this assessment “provides a solid baseline understanding of the current state of the organisation’s culture – from apathy, compliance-driven, and tokenistic to genuinely caring”.

Law shared that the assessment results provide insights that can assist leaders in designing and implementing “relevant initiatives, policies, and procedures” to identify areas within the organisation that may be experiencing challenges.