Finding the right employees to hire for your company is difficult enough as it is. Once you’ve accomplished that, you want to make sure that they are as productive as possible. If the work environment is poor, it’s going to make it difficult for your employees to be productive – no matter how highly qualified they may be. The following are 5 tips (plus a bonus tip…) you should consider implementing in order to improve the workplace environment and keep productivity up:
5 Tips for Improving Workplace Environment
Keep stress low
One of the problems that many office environments have is that they are too stressful for employees. Stress can often be caused by low morale or by poor management practices. Do what you can to lower the stress levels of your employees by being sure to monitor them. Stress often leads to lower-quality work as well as higher rates of absenteeism. If your employees are calling in sick because they are stressed out, then your company is taking huge hits in productivity.
Make the workplace more enjoyable
The last thing you want is for your employees to dread the workweek. Make it more enjoyable for your employees to work in the office. You can do this by managing their workloads a little better so that they aren’t overloaded with work. Provide rewards to your employees for certain difficult tasks, such as giving out gift certificates. Buying the office lunch once a week goes a long way in showing your employees that you care about how they feel at work as well, and gives them a chance to have lunch together and socialize for a bit.
Encourage teamwork
People tend to work better as a team since there will be less stress involved in finishing a project all on their own. It also gives your employees a chance to communicate and foster ideas with their coworkers instead of being trapped in a cubicle by themselves. Always congratulate the team after they have completed a task, and be sure to note everyone’s contributions to the team.
You can also partner with professionals who offer PEO services that present a human resources solution and could help you by handling the payroll and employee benefits and that will further encourage teamwork.
Provide training sessions
Employees often feel like worker bees, which makes them feel less valuable to the company. Productivity often suffers when employees feel like they are stuck in a dead-end job with no chances of promotion. Offer training sessions to your employees so that they can learn new skills. This can help to not only keep your employees productive – since by offering training you’ll be giving them the belief that you value their work and believe in their ability to grow – but it will keep employees from leaving if other job opportunities come up that they feel may be more beneficial to career advancement.
Improve the physical environment
Does the office have low, flickering lights and no natural light? Is it overall an oppressive environment? This can have a huge effect on your employees. If the physical appearance of your office space is depressing, your employees are going to feel depressed. Invest in high-quality lighting, give the walls a fresh coat of paint, set up plants throughout the office, and more. Make sure that whenever an employee has an issue with a piece of office furniture, such as a chair or desk, it is fixed immediately.
And… A PRO tip from us – let your team have some FUN!
Use these 5 6 tips to improve the workplace environment of your company so that your employees’ productivity doesn’t suffer.
And give us a buzz to learn more about the FUN part…
