Workplace In Need Of A Boost? Here Are 14 Ideas To Get Started
The last couple of years has been difficult for businesses.
The pandemic, economy, and world events can impact the workplace, affecting staff morale, productivity, etc. Workplaces regularly go through transitional phases, leading to tensions in the workplace and absences and resignations. It’s more common than you think, and the good news is that your business can bounce back.
Finding ways to boost your workplace will help your business get back to a good place, helping to create a more positive environment and re-focus your teams. It’s not always easy, but the right strategies can have a significant impact on your business.
Take a look at these 14 ideas to boost your workplace and get your business back on track.
1. Refresh your work environment
The modern workplace has evolved a lot since the Mad Men era. Workplaces are designed to be collaborative, comfortable and full of facilities that set them apart from other companies. Refreshing your work environment can help signal a fresh era for your business, something to excite your employees once again.
Check out some examples of office design ideas to give you some inspiration for a modern office refresh.
2. Bring people together again
The pandemic has pushed employees apart, changing team dynamics and limiting social interactions. Bringing your teams back together can help rebuild those relationships and help make things more sociable again. If you’ve had some new additions over the last two years, this can be a good way to help teams bond and get to know each other better.
Encourage some face-to-face contact between your teams through in-person meetings, team-building exercises and social events. Restoring those familiar group dynamics can make your workplace a happier place to be, helping your employees feel more at ease at work.
3. Reach out to individuals
It can be difficult to understand the problems within your workplace unless you speak to your employees. Reaching out to individuals will give you a sense of how they’re feeling, what their issues are, and how they feel things can be resolved. Providing support to employees that are going through a difficult time is important. Providing mental health resources and support can help you improve employee wellbeing while showing your employees that you care.
Even if employees aren’t comfortable providing face to face feedback, there are other ways you can gather views, including anonymous staff surveys. The aim should be to build an open and honest workplace where employees can feel comfortable discussing their issues and concerns.
4. Redefine your objectives
A shake-up can be just what your business needs to move forward positively. A new business strategy can set a fresh direction for your business, invigorating your employees and giving you new objectives to work towards. Planning a shift to your business strategy will help your employees reconnect with your business aims, making their work more valuable and worthwhile. Change can be good, helping your business grow and keep up with the times.
5. Find ways to make hybrid working a success
Many businesses adopted hybrid working during the pandemic, and have retained it going forward. It can be a good way to give your employees flexibility, but there are always challenges that exist with hybrid working. The right hybrid working model can transform your business and make it a great place for people to work, no matter where they’re located.
Consult your employees about their experiences of hybrid working to help find a way of working that works for everyone.
6. Improve the way you communicate with your employees
Communication is important for any workplace. Improving your internal communications is an effective way of boosting your workplace and ensuring that employees know what’s going on. It might be worthwhile to perform an internal communications audit to see where processes can be improved for the benefit of everyone. From regular meetings to all-staff emails, there are ways to make sure employees feel informed and consulted and ways to improve these aspects even more to create a health working environment.
7. Start a volunteering project
Your business activities don’t always have to serve a commercial goal. Giving back to the community is a rewarding activity for businesses, and helps you use your position to do some good. A volunteering project is an amazing way to bring your employees together and focus on something other than work. Your local community will have plenty of fantastic volunteering opportunities. Use it as a chance to promote teamwork and learn some new skills – it could bring many benefits to your company and help you develop closer links with your community too.
8. Try a job swap
Finding common ground and an understanding is essential for respectful, productive relationships at work. Many misunderstandings can happen when someone doesn’t appreciate what someone else does or doesn’t recognize the value of their role.
Organizing a job swap can be a fun and useful way of promoting better relationships at work. It can help people learn more about their colleagues and different areas of the business, while also developing better respect and recognition for what people do. Whether you chose to do a full swap for a day or a week, or arrange some shadowing opportunities, this could be an innovative initiative to change perspectives in the office.
9. Focus on boosting employee engagement
Employees can begin to feel lost or disenchanted with work, which is something that can cause issues with productivity and turnover. Developing an engaged workforce is key to reaching your business goals and creating a positive working environment.
There are different strategies you can adopt to boost employee engagement. This involves many elements, from changing your workplace culture to setting individual objectives. You could even ask staff for feedback on areas they feel could be improved or any specific issues they are having. Alternatively, you might ask them to take a personality test like DiSC, and then make use of a solution like the everything DiSC catalyst to help staff improve certain skills that will then help them engage and collaborate much better at work. Working on an employee engagement strategy can take time, but it can have a significant payoff if implemented successfully.
10. Encourage health and fitness
Your workplace should encourage happy, healthy employees. Promoting health and wellbeing initiatives can give your employees the boost they need to help them feel good inside and out, something that will impact your workplace too.
Employee health and wellbeing have become more widely discussed since the pandemic, as many people struggled to maintain both their physical and mental health. Think of ways you can encourage your teams to be healthier, from bringing healthy snacks into the office to on-site fitness facilities. It can make a big difference to how your employees feel in and out of work and could have a positive impact on absenteeism too.
11. Prioritize work/life balance
Since the pandemic, work/life balance has never been more important. Work/life balance means different things to different people, but flexibility is one of the key requirements. Flexible working can make a big difference to your workplace and help employees design a working day that allows them to get their work done, without sacrificing their personal lives.
Work/life balance should be encouraged as much as possible, which may involve changing your company culture. Leading by example is a good way to influence employees to do the same, so start encouraging upper levels of management to leave the office on time and avoid emails and calls in the evenings and on weekends. This helps protect everybody’s time and ensures a clear separation between work and home.
12. Reward your employees
Rewards are an effective way to boost your workplace. They can help motivate your employees and make them feel more valued for their work. Monetary rewards, in particular, provide a good incentive for your employees to work hard, but they can also help you attract top talent to your business.
There are a lot of creative ways to reward your employees, including both monetary and non-monetary rewards. A solid employee recognition scheme can be a valuable move for your business, ensuring your employees get to share in the company’s success and take pride in their work.
13. Push training and development
A strong training and development program will bring many improvements to your business. Not only can it help upskill your workers, bringing valuable knowledge and skills to your business, but it can also help your employees push themselves and their careers too.
Training and development can take many forms, but it’s important that employees are given the opportunity to choose training and development that meets their personal objectives. Investing in your employees can help them stay loyal to the business, ensuring you have a solid team of skilled workers to help lead your business to success.
14. Inspire your employees
Finally, if you want to give your workplace a boost, inspire your employees! There are different ways to bring inspiration to the workplace, from sharing success stories to bringing in motivational speakers – it can all help give your teams a lift. Employees should feel excited about where they work and the future, so as a business leader, it’s up to you to inspire those feelings that will push your employees to do their best.
With the right strategy, you can give your workplace the boost it needs to motivate your employees. Developing a positive workplace is important, and with the effects of recent events beginning to ease, it’s a good time to focus on improvements and look toward your company’s future.
