In the aftermath of the Great Resignation and other pandemic-era workplace disruptions, employers are realizing what their team members have known for years: happy employees are more productive, more collaborative, more innovative, and more likely to stay with their company for the long-term.
Small adjustments can often make a big impact when it comes to improving the happiness, comfort, and engagement of employees. Here are five such changes you can make in your workplace to make it a more positive, better environment for everyone.
1. Prioritize employee health and wellness.
The mind and body are connected. If you want your employees to feel better and think more clearly during their workday, encouraging their physical health and wellness is a great first step.
Physical wellness includes aspects like:
- Nutrition – A 2020 research study found ensuring workers have sufficient nutrition can increase their productivity by up to 20%. Proper nutrition helps employees to concentrate better and can improve their resilience when responding to workplace stress.
- Hydration – Many people don’t drink as much water as they should. Studies from the University of Connecticut found even mild dehydration can cause headaches, poor concentration, fatigue, memory issues, longer reaction times, and changes in mood like anxiety and tension.
- Physical activity – Office workers especially often struggle to get enough exercise in the course of their day. Motivating employees to be more active can improve their focus and energy levels, and those results can be visible as soon as their next shift, according to research from Harvard Business Review.
- Sleep and rest – Workers who are tired are more likely to make mistakes. Fatigue and sleep deprivation make it harder to concentrate and can also affect your mood. In research from Hult International Business School, 84% of those surveyed felt more irritable because of poor sleep, along with higher stress and anxiety and other mental health impacts
Implementing wellness programs that target these key areas can have a significant impact on the overall workplace. This can include ensuring they have easy access to ample water and nutritious food, adding an in-office gym or providing complementary gym memberships to encourage physical activity, and ensuring employees aren’t overworked to the point it affects their ability to sleep at night.
2. Implement systems to make their jobs easier.
A disorganized workplace isn’t just less efficient than one with solid systems in place, but it can also create a stressful work environment. It can leave employees unsure about their responsibilities, expectations, and deadlines, and often results in them doing more work to access resources, gather information, or collaborate with colleagues.
Effective communication systems are especially important in hybrid and remote workplaces, and are the first system you should look at implementing or improving in a traditional office, as well. Systems that streamline and clarify employees’ workflow and access to needed information, tools, and resources can also improve the workplace by allowing them to do their work more efficiently.
3. Ensure your work environment is inclusive for everyone.
When a workplace is inclusive, employees of all backgrounds and identities feel like they belong and are empowered to share their ideas and have a voice in workplace decisions. This includes speaking up when the work environment doesn’t meet their needs, a crucial first step in addressing those problems. It also means all team members feel supported by their colleagues and know that their work is valued, something that all employees want out of their workplace.
There are several steps leaders can take to create a more inclusive work environment, such as:
- Establish two-way communication that enables employees to share feedback with leadership
- Educate leaders and team members on the importance of diversity and inclusion
- Celebrate what makes employees unique and train managers to see and treat each team member as an individual
- Address unconscious or systemic biases that create inequities or barriers to inclusion
- Create safe spaces and Employee Resource Groups to ensure all employees feel included and supported in your workplace
4. Help employees maintain a healthy work-life balance.
A study on work-life balance in the construction trades found that employees who reported a poor work-life balance were 4.38 times more likely to feel high stress levels at work, and nearly twice as likely to be injured on the job.
This is true in other industries, as well. When employees aren’t able to balance career success with their personal life, their health, productivity, and overall life satisfaction suffer.
An organization whose culture prioritizes work-life balance gives employees the support they need to be fulfilled both inside and outside the workplace. Offering employees more flexibility regarding where and when they work is one way to empower them to find their ideal work-life balance. Programs like family life, child care, and job sharing can also reduce the stress employees feel in the workplace and help them balance their personal life and work responsibilities.
5. Give employees a comfortable place to work.
It’s common sense that people want to spend their time in places that are comfortable. A workplace that is dark, cramped, cluttered, or otherwise uncomfortable makes it more difficult for employees to focus on their work—and isn’t a place they’ll want to be, even if they love what they do there.
Lighting is a big part of this. Data shows that exposure to natural sunlight and bright white light gives people more energy, makes them more alert, and can improve their mood, even combatting the symptoms of mood disorders such as depression. The color of that light makes a difference, too. Blue-enriched bulbs have the most impact on improving mood and reducing fatigue, while warmer light colors encourage relaxation and can be a great choice in break rooms and other resting spaces.
The furniture you use in the office can have a big impact on employee comfort, too. Supportive, well-padded seats help employees who sit for long stretches to avoid aches and strain. Providing adjustable chairs and desk risers that can be used either sitting or standing lets team members adjust their workspace to their unique physical needs. The more comfortable your employees are at work, the better they’ll be able to focus and the happier they’ll be overall.
