When employees begin to feel unhappy about their environment they tend to slack off and give only a portion of what they have to offer. The good news is that there are many ways to improve the work environment and make employees happy. Here’s a quick breakdown from the employee perspective:
Breaks and longer lunches
On a stressful job, sitting for many hours can cause you fatigue, which translates into reduced productivity. When you, as an employee take periodic breaks where you leave your office or cubicle, stretch your legs and relax your mind it benefits you. In fact, in many cases, it helps you to collect your thoughts and solve an issue that may have initiated the stress. Stepping away from a problem often helps to resolve it faster. Lunch time also presents a problem for many people because by the time you get to where you are going to eat it’s just about time for you to head back to work. By increasing the lunch time by even 15 minutes it helps to improve your overall job performance.
Having access to water, coffee, and snacks
In an effort to keep employees on the job, many companies have break rooms with vending machines and coffee or a fully staffed cafeteria. This allows employees to relax, eat and mingle with other workers. In addition to this, a water machine for office workers keeps employees hydrated. Water is essential to overall performance in the workplace. It helps to improve blood flow to the brain, reduces fatigue, energizes, improves focus and reduces stress. By having these services available, employees feel appreciated. They also feel as if they are home on a lunch break rather than in a rat race trying to get from point a to point b in record time.
Exercise room
If you take a look at the top companies that are earning the big numbers, the big difference lies in the daily perks they offer their staff. These companies understand that keeping their employees fit is as important as offering a good salary. Because of this, there are more companies providing benefits that go beyond the normally paid lunch breaks and vacation time. An exercise room provides you with a way to increase your energy level prior to starting work and helps you to unwind when you work late. With longer lunches, you are also able to get in a 15-20 minute workout and relieve the stress before heading back to your desk. By having these resources at your disposal, you return to your desk refreshed and ready to tackle the second half of the day as well as the first.
Job sharing
While certain individuals are hired to perform certain jobs, job sharing improves productivity. It works because by giving you the ability to move around to different locations and allowing you to perform a variety of jobs, you become well rounded. This also gives you an appreciation for every task that goes on in the course of a day. When you understand the vital role of each position and how all areas help to create the final product, it creates an environment of understanding and respect. Plus, you now have the knowledge of all aspects of the company that you can use to your benefit for a possible job promotion within the company.
Access to good health insurance and retirement benefits
When you search for a job you want to know that you can go to the doctor without breaking the bank and retire in style without the need for pulling in your belts. To you having access to affordable healthcare with reduced out of pocket expenses is huge on the laundry list towards your final decision. You also want to retire in style with money in your pockets. After all, if you’ve dedicated your life to one company for 30 plus years you want to maintain a quality of life in retirement.
The art of keeping employees happy and enjoying the rewards of this is not that difficult. To be a happy employee you want a fair salary, periodic breaks, affordable healthcare and retirement benefits. As an employee, if you have access to these things you are more likely to keep your focus on the job and contribute towards improving the profits, rather than searching the help wanted for a new job.
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