In Business World A lot of the language that has become dominant in corporate culture is team-centric, encouraging employees to think of themselves as a helpful cog in the machine. At the risk of taking the metaphor to a place where it almost becomes excessive, in order for those cogs to run effectively, certain maintenance measures must be taken to keep them running well: the operator of the machine needs to grease the wheels, so to speak, providing the cogs with the essential assets they need in order to keep turning.
We’re not talking here about higher pay or better benefits, although if you find you’re having trouble snagging people with your hiring process, you might want to take a look at what your competitors are offering. However, higher pay and better benefits aren’t necessarily enough to keep employees in the midst of the labor shortage, some experts have found; employees that find themselves lacking a support structure to make it easier to do their job are more likely to leave, making the problems brought on by the labor shortage even worse for many businesses that aren’t aware that they aren’t providing what employees need.
Fortunately, if you find that that’s the situation with your company, that employees feel like they don’t have the tools to succeed on hand, that can be an issue that can be rectified with a short shopping list. While the amenities listed below are recommended for any in-person office setting, your mileage may vary depending on the type of business you run and the specific needs of your employees: you may want to conduct a survey of some kind to find out how your employees are feeling about their workplace, and where it may be lacking.
Without further ado, let’s talk about some things you can add to your office to keep your employees happier and increase your chances of retaining the workforce you have.
Table of Contents
Updating Your Office Tech
As a general rule, most companies get by doing the most they can with the assets they have, putting off investing in new technology until it becomes absolutely necessary. There’s a good reason for that rule of thumb, as purchasing new computers for the entire office can cost a pretty penny: however, if your current models that your employees are working on seem like they were left behind a couple of industrial revolutions ago, and your employees are struggling to get their work done with the tools they have, you might want to find room in the budget to give the office a much-needed quality-of-life upgrade. Online office furniture offers best-in-class, value-oriented furniture at very competitive prices.
In addition to making your employees happier, showing that your company is invested in keeping them happy, an upgrade of this magnitude has the added benefit of improving the productivity of the office by replacing inefficient systems with state-of-the-art tech.
Commercial Window Tinting
While this may seem like a minor detail at first glance, getting your windows professionally tinted can have a huge impact on your employees’ well-being, eliminating annoying glare from the sun and making it easier for them to focus on their work.
People have been reluctant to come back to office spaces post-pandemic, and part of the reason for this is the associated loss of control over their surrounding environment. Nobody wants to leave their curtained home office with mild temperatures and an adjustable thermostat for a crowded office with large glass windows that leak energy and shine sunlight directly into workers’ faces. However, commercial window tinting can increase their overall comfort in the office by blocking out the sun and trapping energy inside the office, making it easier to keep the office at a steady, comfortable temperature.
Break Areas / Concession Area
If your break room is just a dirty, dusty table in the corner with uncomfortable wooden chairs surrounding it, you might want to consider giving your break area a well-needed renovation. Your break area should be a place where your employees can blow off steam, take a much-needed minute to rest during a hard day’s work, have lunch in-office, and socialize with their coworkers. As such, you should redesign it with socialization and comfort in mind, adding in amenities like couches and cozy chairs to allow employees to recline and chat in comfort. The effect changes like that will have on employee morale cannot be overstated, and a break room that feels like a cozy place for team members to hang out has the added benefit of drawing your team closer together.
Keeping your employees happy isn’t rocket science. Listen to the requests of your workforce and do your best to meet them, and you’ll long outlast other companies that are scratching their heads, wondering where this labor shortage came from.
