How to Improve Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace
One of the biggest challenges to all forms of business is creating a working culture that encourages the workforce to work to the highest levels of productivity each day. Ensuring your staff are motivated throughout the year is crucial to cultivating an efficient business enterprise that competes in the increasingly crowded global marketplace. High levels of staff wellbeing can also be a key factor in reducing employee churn in your firm. If staff feel positive in the workplace, they are more likely to stay with your organization for a longer duration.
This can be vital in keeping recruitment costs low and retaining your best and brightest staff who have in-depth knowledge of the company and the wider industry. Put simply, cultivating a working culture that has a focus on high levels of employee well-being is crucial for ongoing business success. In this article, some key strategies to achieve this will be explored.
Ensure a pleasant working environment
The physical working environment has a significant impact on the levels of employee well-being in your organization. Put simply, staff wants to work in a comfortable workplace that is relatively spacious and has a regulated temperature for all seasons. Ensure that working areas are well-lit, and staff do not feel cramped or must sit in small office cubicles. An open-plan office design can help to make smaller offices feel more spacious.
It is also of paramount importance that your workplace has a high-performing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC) to ensure that temperature, humidity, and air quality levels are optimal. These systems should be serviced at regular intervals by dedicated professionals with experience in servicing commercial HVAC systems, such as Design Mechanical, Inc.
This vital maintenance will play a key role in providing a suitable working environment. In addition, regular maintenance and servicing of HVAC systems will prolong the working life of this equipment. HVAC systems can be costly to replace, so preventative maintenance is a wise choice over the long term.
Relaxation rooms in the workplace
Staff may typically be required to work on routine or repetitive tasks for extended periods. During the working day, concentration levels can be reduced, focus may be lost, and overall productivity levels can decline. Staff need to take regular breaks to remain effective and support their mental and physical well-being in the workplace. Taking a five to fifteen-minute break from work every hour is highly recommended.
This can allow staff to stretch tired muscles (especially if they sit at a computer most of the day) and return to their tasks with renewed focus. Many forward-thinking organizations are further taking the concept of regular short breaks by designing purpose-built relaxation rooms. These spaces typically feature ultra-comfortable furniture, and adaptable lighting levels and may even contain recreational facilities such as a ping pong table or a music player.
Staff can use these facilities to decompress when their energy levels are low (during periods of intense focus). Taking a short break in such rooms can allow staff to come back to their desks with an improved mentality and then work with higher levels of concentration. In short, emphasizing the importance of taking regular breaks and providing a pleasant and relaxing space to do this can be key to cultivating high levels of employee well-being at work.
