As a business owner, you probably feel highly uncomfortable if you occasionally overhear your employees complaining about the workplace. Even if you have a proverbial “thick skin” it’s difficult to develop a tolerance for this type of negativity. The good news is that it’s fairly easy to turn things around in your business. Instead of defending your pride and condemning your workers as “ingrates” or “slackers,” focus on changing the environment, making it a cool place for your employees to work in.
Why is improving the workplace important? Psychologists like Shawn Achor have accumulated plenty of scientific research to suggest that happy and positive employees play a huge role in the success of a business. In fact, they play a much larger role than you would ever imagine.
Here are a few ideas for making your workplace a more beautiful, enjoyable, and fun place.
Changing the Environment
1. Have a great, well-stocked break room
If you’re like most business owners, overwhelmed by how much you have to do each working hour and stressed out about everything that goes on in a typical day, then you probably have not given the break room much thought. Most break rooms are unremarkable places, consisting of some simple tables and chairs, basic kitchen appliances, drawers with mixed cutlery sets, and a random assortment of dishes, glasses, and mugs. They may also have cork boards with posters, standard vending machines, and a few other miscellaneous fixtures.
Imagine, then, if you convert your breakroom into a cafe and ask your office vending services to introduce healthy snacks and the most popular brand-name beverages. It would be a dramatic change and it would have a big impact. People would look forward to going on breaks to chat with their coworkers, drink refreshing teas and juices, and nibble on delicious, nourishing snacks.
2. Improve the overall design of the office.
Interior design changes do more than simply make a workplace look more sophisticated. They create a distinct shift in mood, including making people feel more alert, interested, engaged, focused, and creative. In fact, redesigning offices is just one small step. Large companies are reinventing the workplace. Amazon, for example, has spent $4 billion on its headquarters in Seattle to build three enormous interconnected biodomes made of glass and steel.
3. Have new and innovative artwork on the walls.
Art, too, has a way of lifting up the human spirit. You can invite local artists to start displaying their works on your office walls or ask your employees to share their artistic talents. You might even decide to have monthly contests, inviting local artists to contribute to your art wall and offering a grand cash prize to the winners based on an anonymous voting system.
Changing Attitudes
1. Change the nature of work itself.
Apart from a few people who love the work they do, most people view work the same way they view their household chores. Although it’s not much fun to do, it’s just a necessary part of life. After all, if you don’t go to work, then you don’t earn a living. In fact, when surveyed, the majority of US workers admit that they feel disengaged at work. However, work doesn’t have to be this way. Some leading companies are using gamification, a concept to make work more like a game. Using game-design thinking, numerous gaming techniques have been introduced into the workplace to make work far more interesting.
2. Invent a new corporate culture.
If your corporate culture is based on championing traditional work values, then you could shake things up a bit by introducing a new variable–creating a bias toward positive thinking and happiness. There are innumerable policies you can put in place and initiatives that you can deploy that will have a beneficial effect on employee experiences and relationships. When these new ideas for a happier workplace gain momentum, then everything will shift for the better. Employees will feel more motivated to succeed and there will be a higher level of engagement.
In closing, it’s important to recognize that it won’t be easy making the transition from a traditional workplace to one where people are happier, more creative, and far more productive. However, through trial and error, you’ll slowly be able to transform your workplace into a place your employees will come to love.