A well-organized, fully utilized office can be a business owner’s best friend. It can whip the workflow of the team inside it into shape and be so much of a morale booster that it works as one of the reasons employees want to stay there. But a bad work environment can be a serious risk to your business.
Here are the ways it might be stopping you from getting the most out of your employees.
Find your feet
The risk of injury is the most obvious one when it comes to a workplace, and you might think you’ve got yourself covered because you’re tackling the fire and electrical risks. However, the most common kind of workplace injury is, in fact, the seemingly innocuous fall. It accounts for thousands upon thousands of preventable injuries and leads to 23% of serious claims against employers. Beyond hiring cleaners to regularly ensure that all walkways are safe, make it policy that the most traversed paths are off-bounds for any potential obstacles.
Cool down
The very air itself can be a risk to your workers. How you control the temperature can have a big impact on your workforce for one. If people are overheating or they’re getting too cold, it brings many risks and has a drastically negative impact on how productive they can be. Investing in proper insulation and changes like commercial tinting can serve as an easy and permanent solution to the problem. You shouldn’t ignore air quality, either. Check your ventilation and air conditioning units regularly to clear them of dust and debris. Otherwise, you may be putting your employees at risk of developing or worsening serious respiratory conditions.
Stop posturing
The workplace can be stressful enough without adding physical strain on top of it. Yet perhaps the most overlooked issue in the modern office is that of posture problems, back pain, and repetitive strain injury. It’s a good idea to encourage employees to move more often and take breaks from repetitive tasks. You can lessen the amount of potential harm caused to them by investing in ergonomic changes like lumbar-supportive chairs for those who sit at a desk or standing mats for those who spend their time on their feet in one place. Physical strain is a big contributor to mental stress, so if you want people at their most engaged and most motivated, you need to tackle the physical pressures they’re under, too.
Get in the zone
There’s a lot more you can do to help motivate and engage them, too. In particular, the visual style of the office can have a big impact. Brighter colours, natural light, and the freedom to personalise their desk some is much better for morale than drab surroundings, fluorescent bulbs, and strict rules on workspace decoration.
Whether it’s injury, fatigue, stress, or bad morale, it can all find its source in the very place that’s supposed to help your team do their work. Make sure you’re taking the time to look over the risks of the office and make it a constant mission to improve its impact on the business.
How To Improve Communication With Your Employees
As a business owner, you need to understand the role that good communication plays in keeping your company running smoothly. Businesses run well when employees are clear on their job roles and they feel like their reports are being heard by the higher ups. If employees run into a problem and the chain of command isn’t clear, chaos would soon ensue. It is therefore very important that both internal communication within your organisation as well as the communication skills of your employees are running efficiently.
Otherwise, the internal and external structure of your business will face numerous challenges that will ultimately lead to its demise.
Open door policy
Open door policies are a great start, but they often they end up being hollow, rarely-used entries in employee handbooks. To create a true environment of open communication, you should encourage collaboration and feedback between departments, as well as between management and staff. Productivity will improve as a result of a more positive office morale.
Use technology to your advantage
Technology is constantly evolving to make our lives easier, so keeping in touch with your colleagues is now instant, and more effective than ever. After all, you can use mobile apps to efficiently manage your business, so why not use other apps to improve workplace communication. Use software such as Slack, Hipchat, or Campfire to instantly pass work updates to your colleagues, share files, start conversations for group projects, and automate tasks. This is quicker than typing an email and waiting for the recipient to type one back. Also, you can’t underestimate the value of a good business phone system to communicate internally with employees, and externally with partners and customers. Finally, you can use technology to keep track of everyone’s daily progress. Time is money, after all, so it’s good to know that everyone is productively working towards their deadlines and business goals.
Training time
Forcing employees to learn on the job can be extremely inefficient and overwhelming for your new worker. Instead of expecting them to effectively accomplish a task with little to no instruction, set aside some time understand what they already know, and teach them the necessary skills to do their job. Make it clear that it is okay to ask questions, and they don’t have to present themselves as an expert. In the long run, you will have an employee who knows how to do their job well, and you won’t have to read new job applications for a while.
Reward hard work
If you’re smart, you’ll already have an employee recognition program in place. People work better if they’re rewarded with more than just a paycheck. Recognizing their efforts and contributions will make them feel appreciated and they will continue to be productive workers. However, you should remember that one employee will be happier with a private “thank you,” while another might prefer a more public acknowledgement. But either way, they will think more highly of you if you think highly of them.