The office may have a purpose, but it changes over time to adapt to changing cultures, trends and workforce, amongst other things. While a full revamp may not occur until at least every five years, there are many small changes that are often made to provide gradual improvements to the workplace. Technology advances at a rapid pace, so what you rely on nowadays may well be obsolete within 5-10 years. Think about how floppy disks and CDs became outdated, and we are now in the era of cloud storage. Below are a few simple additions that can be made to improve the office.
1) High speed internet accessible in all areas
With the slowdown of physical storage improvements on devices and the rise of cloud storage, it is imperative that high speed internet access is available in all areas where employees may work. Whilst we have improved connectivity of our smart devices, this is pretty much reliant on having continuous connection to the internet. Connectivity is something we usually take for granted in the workplace, so it is important for organisations to acknowledge this and ensure that they make their offices as conducive to working as possible.
2) Modern hardware and software
This is very broad and trust me, there are an endless amount of options that an organisation can choose from to improve their workplace; the trick is to understand your needs and choose those that best fit them. Don’t be fooled by some products and all their bell-and-whistles, which bring little to no value to the organisation.
From new PCs to efficient accounting software, or even an easy to set up room scheduling software, the market is full of products to help elevate your business, so choose wisely.
3) Provide snacks and beverages
You may think this is a given but in some workplaces employees are not even offered free tea or coffee. This sort of penny-pinching usually doesn’t go down well with employees and can really affect their morale. If a business is not willing to provide such cheap and basic perks, then they will likely not pay well either. Be careful what you do and don’t provide as this can really have an effect on the business.
5) Ergonomic chairs
The amount of sick days taken by employees of the past few years due to work-related injuries has been slowly climbing. Endless hours sat, hunched in front of a screen eventually take their toll and it is both the organisation and employee that pay the price. Providing ergonomic chairs not only improves your employee’s comfort, but can lead to improved workplace performance as a result.
Invest in equipment that you and your employees use the most and you will certainly reap the benefits in the long-run. Such investments don’t often provide an easily quantifiable result, but you should certainly see less work-related illnesses derived from poor posture.