By Kara Masterson
One of the imperative objectives, which should be featured in any organizational or business plan, is the comfort of the employees. Keeping your employees happy and comfortable is one of the most important things you can do in the workplace. It goes without saying that a comfortable workforce is a more productive and creative one. Innovation is one of the significant elements in an organization that fosters the production of quality work. Comfortable employees will be motivated to put in the effort to search and leverage better methods to deliver quality output in a more efficient manner. The more comfortable and motivated a workforce is the more efficient it is in reducing the turnover. The below tips will be effective in helping you make your employees feel comfortable at work.
Enable Flexible Work
In a study, over a third of employees from small businesses posited that flexible work schedules would increase comfort at work and increase happiness. With the aim of maintaining a balance in the rising demands between personal time and work, small businesses need to allow remote working as well as flexibility in the working hours. Employees are not only looking for a sustainable balance between personal life and work but also the power to blend the two aspects together. Inherent trust from the employers is the underlying driver behind flexible schedules in that they believe their workforce is responsible and will tackle their tasks within the stipulated timeframes.
Align the Office and Culture
Surveys show that employees possess a heightened tolerance for distraction. Noticeably, over 46 percent of employees report that a distraction-free work environment would make them comfortable and raise their productivity. However, across the board, employees accord the primary source of distraction is loud coworkers. Office design is mostly an individualized proposition. For some organization cultures, workers may be more comfortable in open offices where open communication and collaboration are prominent, whereas others may require a bit more personal and quiet office. The bitter truth is that no single size that fits all approach. It is, therefore, paramount to engage our employees in this strategy. Ensure you survey your workforce on their preferences and ensure feedbacks are in line with your key goals.
Encourage Efficient Breaks
Organizations need to rally their workforce to take breaks that are more efficient at work to ensure they have downtime as well as network with their colleagues. Interestingly, among the best work ideas are born when one is not at work. Most employees, especially those employed by small enterprises, do not feel the need to take breaks. This subsequently results to burnouts, which lowers the comfort of your workers. Encouraging breaks that are more efficient will help in alleviating burnout and thereby making your employees comfortable at their place of work. Ensuring your break room is more comfortable and well stocked will facilitate breaks.
Make Meetings Actionable
Employees are usually overwhelmed with meetings, and majorities of these meetings are highlighted as ineffective. Even in organizations where meetings are held less often, the few meetings held are more likely to be inefficient in various aspects. Instead of planning and scheduling meetings for just the sake of protocols, employees will be more comfortable and efficient with one meeting in a week, which is actionable and structured. This way, employees will be more comfortable, have sufficient time to think ideas through, and meetings serve a utilitarian purpose.
The above four tips will allow your staff to be more comfortable at work. Interestingly, you can leverage various elements of employee gamification to motivate and ensure the comfort of your workers. Such employee gamification elements as onboarding, contests, achievements, leaderboards and goals among others provide the ultimate opportunity to gamify the work environment. Employee gamification is effective in engaging employees in a fun way to solve the work problems and subsequently meet the organizational goals. As an employer, one should take time and evaluate their workplace, employees as well as the nature of their work. With the results, they can find efficient ways to make their employees feel more comfortable at work.
Kara Masterson is a freelance writer from West Jordan, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah and enjoys writing and spending time with her dog, Max.
