Employee retention is of paramount importance for businesses of all shapes and sizes. In fact, many companies are facing a shortage of highly skilled workers in our current global economic landscape.
This shortage of talent has resulted in more business owners turning their attention towards improving their workplaces to better ensure the wellness and job satisfaction of their employees.
To attract and retain the best employees, many business owners have been prompted to look at workplace design as an integral part of their business planning. A comfortable and enjoyable workplace can help employees go the extra mile.
But what are the best wellness investments that business owners can make?
We’ll be answering this question today by outlining all the top office tech and equipment that’ll help employees feel right at home and catered for all throughout their 9-to-5.
Office Coffee Machines
Next to working at their desks, employees sipping coffee is probably the next most common sight in an office. The pivotal role of office coffee machines in getting workers to the office and working late hours, as well as boosting their productivity during their work hours has been well highlighted by a variety of different publications in the recent past.
In fact, Entrepreneur penned a piece just last year that explored the benefits of introducing coffee culture into modern office spaces.
For employers looking to promote teamwork, office coffee machines can really be a blessing, as they often serve as the centre points for boosting employee collaboration and integration.
Drawing employees to a common meeting point to get their daily dose of java can encourage the development of interpersonal relationships between employees in different departments. So investing in an office coffee machine should be seen as a rewarding investment instead of a luxury.
If you’re feeling a little lost on what kind of coffee machine you should secure for your office (capsule, espresso, a high-capacity filter coffee machine – the options are endless!), consider going the extra mile and involving your employees in your decision-making.
Ergonomic Chairs
The subject of office chairs and their effect on employee health and productivity is another area that’s been studied intensively in recent years.
Regardless of what the scientific reports say, you just can’t deny that good office chairs are an indispensable part of any modern workplace.
After all, employees spend well over 40 hours a week in their office, with the majority of this time being at their desks and – you guessed it – in their office chairs.
Because of this, the ergonomics of your office chairs can play a major role when it comes to ensuring employee wellness.
Ergonomic office chairs can help your employees maintain good posture and comfort, which in turn can help them maintain peak productivity throughout their workday. The alternative is employees croaking their way through the day because of sore spines and muscles.
Personalised Accessories
Want your employees to feel comfortable in your office space? Well, make them feel at home by encouraging the personalisation of workstations!
Let their cubicle be their own comfort space. Personalised nameplates and desk drawers filled with stationery can go a long way in boosting employee morale and help inculcate a sense of belonging.
Your personalised accessories can also be provided by your company, if you’re concerned about employees bringing any desk toys or other items that may be disruptive or may give a bad first impression to prospective clients or other company stakeholders.
A great example here is accessories like office pin boards for crafty personalisation, or personalised pen cups so that employees can keep their own stationery essentials nearby and express themselves through their note-keeping.
Office Greenery
Green office spaces are known to improve employee productivity. In fact, the importance of office landscaping has been noted by a wide variety of different trade publications. But you also don’t need to read The Economist to know all the health benefits that accompany keeping indoor plants.
Alongside boosting the air quality in your office space, some leafy green companions sitting atop desks can help your employees feel even more at home in their workspace.
Plants can also provide plenty of healthy visual stimulation during employee breaks. You’d be surprised by just how much more zen and recharged you can feel after spending a few minutes watching a plant nod along to a slight breeze.
Charging Stations
During the day, employees will undoubtedly need to charge their devices – smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, etc. So ensuring adequate charging options in your office is a vital component of investing in employee wellness. We’re well and truly in the digital age, after all.
We recommend setting up charging stations for each department or even centring charging stations around break room spaces or even by your brand new office coffee machine. This is preferable, as employees from different departments have the opportunity to interact with each other while charging their gadgets, further cultivating interpersonal relationships between all your team members.
Surveillance Systems
Safety and security are of utmost importance to all of us, so it goes without saying that your employees would like to feel safe as well. It’s therefore essential to show employees that you care for them.
Ensure that CCTV video surveillance systems are positioned to cover every nook and cranny of your office’s public spaces, including car park areas.
That being said, it’s essential to be cautious when setting up CCTV and other security measures, as you don’t want your employees to feel like their own right to privacy is being infringed on.
To help make sure that your employees don’t feel like they’re being overtly monitored (as this can be detrimental in more ways than one), it’s best to position cameras on the exterior of your office space rather than in positions where employees are being monitored at their desks.
If you have the right building security measurements in place, there’s just no reason you’d need live CCTV feeds from inside your office.
Power Backup
Let’s conclude this list with a more practical investment which can still provide wellness benefits – primarily because it’ll prevent your staff from pulling their hair out in the event of a power failure.
Irrespective of industry, an uninterrupted power supply is crucial to ensuring efficiency for virtually all modern enterprises. Even in companies in non-technical fields, power outages can degrade employee performance.
Similarly, poor lighting, uncomfortable working conditions, fumes and countless other problems may arise from a sudden loss of power.
That’s why it’s wise to invest in a UPS (or ‘uninterruptible power supply’), and in areas facing frequent power outages, a backup power source should be prioritised as well.
Other than ensuring your employee’s comfort, this also keeps your system up and running and offers protection from data loss or corruption, which is of utmost importance if your firm handles transactional data.
A vibrant and well-designed office can boost employee morale and even help in team building.
Above all, however, a well-equipped workplace demonstrates an employer’s commitment to providing their employees with a positive and productive workplace.
To get the best out of your employees and help them thrive, it’s essential to supply them with the best working conditions you can provide. Investing in any of the office tech and equipment outlined above will certainly help you get there.