A happy and stimulating office environment is the key to staff retention, but more and more employers are making the same basic mistakes that are leading to a higher employee turnover than ever before. Nowadays, 1 in 3 employees quit their job within just 6 months of joining; millennials are characteristically mercurial in their professions. So how to combat this trend? From office furniture selection to team building, here are three simple changes you can make to retain your staff and help to foster a better workplace community.
- Safe and comfortable working spaces
Office space planning and design are seemingly obvious factors in pleasing employees, but are often overlooked. The more comfortable employees are, the happier they will be, and, consequently, the more likely they are to stay at the company. This starts with furniture selection. Why not provide ergonomic furniture, comfortable seats and adjustable desks to please staff?
Professional service specialists, Interactive Space, believe that safe and comfortable workspaces are a simple way to keep your employees happy for longer, while improving their productivity. Employees should feel that their spaces are really theirs and that they’re not a part of some corporate machine. A recent study suggested that employees’ job satisfaction increased by 24% in comfortable working environments.
Increasing natural light and placing plants are the most efficient ways to boost morale in the work place. The former helps keep efficiency-killers, like headaches and eyestrain, to a minimum, while the latter reduces stress. It is no secret that if morale is high in the workplace, employees feel less inclined to leave.
2. Team building and communication
Improve the relationships of your employees to increase both their happiness and their performance in the workplace. When employees feel happier and more comfortable around their colleagues, and their performance improves as a result, they are less likely to want to leave the company. Teambuilding events and activities outside of the workplace are an excellent way to develop friendships. A more connected team ensures high morale and better communication within the office. It is said that half of the improvements in communication levels in the workplace are attributable to socialising in an informal environment outside of the office. Companies that communicate effectively are 4.5 times more likely to retain their employees.
One small change that can have a big impact on team bonding is eating together: this small act helps to build bonds between employees on a personal level. It’s a chance for them to talk about things outside of work and learn more about each other than how they like their coffee. Companies like Google and Facebook provide healthy meals for their employees on a regular basis and sometimes use lunchtimes as a chance to give key updates and information.
3. Professional flexibility
Gone are the days when a rigid 9-5 is the only means of ensuring high productivity in the workplace. In fact, quite the opposite is the favoured paradigm of many city companies: giving employees flexibility – in terms of both hours and working station – is a sure-fire way to keep them happy, without compromising on work output. The flexibility movement is called telecommuting, which is reasonably self-explanatory.
In a recent survey conducted by JP Morgan Chase, it was found that employees were more likely to exceed performance expectations when working under a boss that was sensitive to work and personal life, and offered flexibility to accommodate for personal circumstances. Offering employees flexibility is a mark of respect from employers – a sentiment that is reciprocated through employees’ efforts.
In another report, as many as 65% of businesses recognised an increase in performance and wellbeing – and consequently loyalty to the company – when flexible working conditions were offered to employees.
