As an employer, you’re always concerned with the well-being of not only your clients, but your employees, as well. It’s a difficult balance to strike. Ultimately, satisfied employees equal satisfied customers. It’s not that you need to be putting your employees before your customers, necessarily, but that if your employees don’t feel comfortable, confident, and safe when coming to work, they won’t be very good at their jobs. This reflects badly on you, as well as the company, and doesn’t help you bring in more business. Luckily, there are a few simple changes you can make around the office to create a more welcoming and happy environment for your employees.
Be relaxed
Something that a lot of employers take for granted, is that they are responsible for setting the tone for the environment of the office. If you are rigid, your employees will have a hard time feeling comfortable in your office. This doesn’t mean you should throw your rulebook out the window, but use this as an opportunity to look at your current policies, and see if there are any places you can improve. For example, if you have a dress code for the office, consider implementing a casual day, where your employees can come in a more relaxed dress(as long as they don’t have any out of office meetings that day).
Another great way to improve the environment, is being relaxed with breaks and allowing them to have places to wind down during their breaks. Consider getting a couch for the break room, or even bean bag chairs. Having a place for your employees to take a break and eat lunch that isn’t at their desk is great for boosting morale.
Update security
Depending on your current situation, this may be an unnecessary step for you. But if you have had any security threats or have noticed uneasiness among your employees, making sure that your security is updated is a great way to put minds at ease and improve the atmosphere in the office. Whether it’s online security or adding a security guard, or security camera, to ensure that your employees feel safe. When implementing new methods of security in the office, make sure that you do it in such a way that it truly feels like it is for the benefit of your employees, rather than it feeling like you are trying to spy on your employees. Trust is important to have with your employees!
Comfort
As mentioned earlier, comfort is incredibly important for the productivity of your employees. You can’t, and shouldn’t, expect your employees to spend an entire 8 hours straight working, without taking breaks or a moment to catch their breath. Yes, some days will be like that, but that’s not a productive environment, and is a recipe for burnout and disgruntled people. Letting your employees know that their comfort is just as much of a priority as their productivity will naturally lend to a higher level of productivity among the team.
Benefits
Have you taken a moment to consider your benefits packages recently? We all want ways to save money, but make sure that the needs of your employees are being met. A great way to ensure this is to have your employees submit an anonymous survey sharing their feelings about your current benefit packages, such as insurance, paid leave, workers comp, and work environment. This is such a great option for anyone who is struggling to find the gaps that need filled at work, because it allows you to get honest feedback from the people in the office, and pinpoint their needs without any guesswork.