The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has had many impacts on our day-to-day lives. When running a business, the pandemic has seen many of us leave our office spaces and start up remote operations. Many of us have found that team bonds and conversations between staff have slipped with staff working from home. With vaccines being rolled out worldwide, more and more of us are planning a return to the office, but want to make sure that we can create a good working atmosphere for our staff. This is important for staff well-being, staff retention, and simply making your workspace a nice place. Here are a few things you can do to help with this!
Create an Appealing Working Environment
First and foremost, you need to make sure that your staff’s space has to work in is nice. This will help to boost spirits as soon as they walk through the door. Then, before staff return to the office, make sure to do a deep clean. This should include Covid anti-viral fogging. This will help reassure staff that the space is hygienic and they have no worries about spending time in this environment. On top of this, you should implement other Covid safety measures. This can include social distancing floor stickers, perspex or plexiglass barriers between desks, and more. Finally, make sure that there’s plenty of natural light in your office space. This will help regulate your workers’ circadian rhythms and encourage them to be more productive and positive.
Recognize an Employee of the Month
Sometimes, staff needs some recognition. Perhaps they’ve gone above and beyond what’s expected of them. Maybe they’ve been a particularly supportive team member. They may have broken a record in their role. This is where an employee of the month can come into play. If you aren’t already choosing an employee of the month each month, you should start now. Create a wall in your office dedicated to an employee of the month, then take a picture of the chosen candidate, learn how to access iCloud photos, and get it printed. Finally, make an announcement detailing what they’ve achieved and provide a prize of some sort. Often, a voucher is a good option.
Carry Out Team Building Activities
Team building is important. It can help your team to feel comfortable with one another and opens up communications that can be beneficial to your staff members’ work. Of course, people may find team-building exercises awkward at first. But within roughly five minutes, ice is broken, and staff will be talking to other members of the team who they might not have been as familiar with. These activities can be carried out in-house, or you may want to collaborate with an agency that can organize a larger-scale event on your behalf.
While these steps may seem small, each will make all the difference in creating a more positive working atmosphere in your workplace. Each is more than worth the time and money invested.
