If you are trying to recruit and keep top talent (and what company isn’t trying to do that these days?) do not overlook the importance of your internal office environment. Obviously, as an eco-friendly cleaning company that specializes in both commercial and residential services, we think that a clean office produces happy employees and impressed clients (call us to help you with that!). But, we also think there are some other things you can add to your space to make your team more productive and content.
Here are four things you should consider adding to your office space:
Add a Kitchen Table
Yes, you may have a table in your office kitchen area, but does it really feel like a “kitchen” table? Head to your local furniture store and invest in the kind of table you would like to sit around with your own family (or, if you’re handy, make this cool table from disassembled shipping pallets) and some comfy chairs. This small addition to your kitchen space will change the entire dynamic of the office. Oh, and while you’re in the kitchen, make sure it is green—click here for tips.
Write on the Walls
Facebook encourages employees to write on the wall and you should too. It will not only help build morale and stronger bonds between employees, but it will unleash the creativity inside the minds of everyone on your team—from marketers to accountants. Hang a chalkboard or whiteboard in a prominent location and add a daily or weekly question to get people thinking. Visitors to the office? Encourage them to participate in the fun as well.
Ditch Open Concept (but not entirely)
The open office space concept was created in hopes of increasing productivity and team building. However, studies are finding that open layouts are not making employees very happy. Before you move back to the golden age of cubicles, consider creating private spaces within your open concept office such as a private meeting space that can fit entire teams, casual collaboration areas with multiple seating options and put single seating in small spaces like tiny alcoves or hallways so people have a place to go if they need to focus on a task.
Make Personal Lives Easier
If you are a startup, you might not have the money to invest in some of the fancy perks enjoyed by companies like Google (who wouldn’t love free gourmet snacks and food?), but you can offer cost-effective perks to your employees that will help make their personal lives better. Partner with a local dry cleaner to offer free pick up/drop off services, have a local restaurant offer discounts on ready-to-eat dinners that can be picked up on the way out of the office or coordinate with a tutoring company to provide after school services for employees and their children.
Talk to us: What are you doing with your office space to make employees happier at work?