Anyone who works in an office knows that things can quickly become dull and boring, leading to unhappy employees. However, it is important to keep morale high in the work place, as your production will increase and your employees will want to work harder. Making your office environment a bit friendlier doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many easy changes that you can make that will completely transform your office. Here are five simple ways to make your work place environment more pleasant.
#1. Enhance the Environment
If the walls of your work place are blank and boring, it’s time for an update. Putting art and pictures on your walls will give your office a more welcoming feeling. Also, your employees will produce more creative work when they are surrounded with creative images. Adding a neutral color to the walls or adding colorful furniture to your lounge will make your employees feel like the office is their second home
#2. Improve the Community
If employees feel like they’re a part of a community, then they will feel happier coming into the office every day. To enhance the friendly environment, you can plan activities that include social interaction between employees. Make it a weekly event to order lunch from the same place and eat together as a group.
Another way to enhance the community in your office is by getting together outside of the office. This doesn’t have to just be happy hour, you can hold employee parties, annual camping retreats or even a paintball outing. These sorts of activities allow employees to build relationships, blow off steam and make them feel like they belong.
#3. Establish Open Communication
One of the reasons that your employees may seem unhappy or dissatisfied is that they feel their voices aren’t being heard. Employees may have suggestions or opinions that will make the office better or simple problems that need to be resolved. To ensure that everyone’s voices are being valued, hold regular meetings. This can either be within departments or as a whole. It’s a good way to encourage input and communication.
#4. Endorse Healthy Living
It’s true that when people lead healthier lives they feel great and have a better lifestyle. By making sure everybody in the office is happy and healthy, you can make your workplace a better place to be. You can do this in a variety of creative ways. Have a fitness instructor come to your office after work and hold free classes for employees.
Have an incentive program to help employees quit smoking or have a healthy snack in the lounge. Another way to endorse a healthy lifestyle is by helping the environment. Try to make your office greener by using renewable products, recycling more or even switching to solar power. Renewable energy also helps the environment, for example by using and installing solar panels for businesses like yours.
#5. Get Creative
One of the best ways to make your workplace happy is to make it a fun, unique place to be. Every employee wants to be able to brag to their friends about how their office has a free espresso cart, Margarita Monday’s, a karaoke machine in the lounge or weekly contests with great rewards. By making your office fun and exciting, you will boost morale and your employees will be happier.
Who says that working in an office has to be boring? When thinking of ways to make your office a happier place, tailor improvements to meet your employee’s needs and desires. Making your workplace a fun, interesting and creative place that employees want to spend their time at will go far to enhance your office’s environment.
Images: ”Happy office workers stay outdoor / Shutterstock.com“
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