The verdict is in: post-pandemic, no one wants to return to the office, but you need employees onsite. In your industry, it just doesn’t work to do everything over Zoom, Slack, or Microsoft Teams. To keep morale high, instead of simply forcing their hand, you want your office space to give your employees a reason to come in. Here are some ways to upgrade your office space and make it worth the long commute.
1. Encourage Fun, Family, and Fitness
Adding playground equipment to your campus is one of the simplest and most immediate ways to upgrade your office environment. It’s a bright, attractive, and immediate way of saying, “You and your kids are welcome, and we’re a fun place to be.” It’s also a clever way to keep both your employees and their kids active and healthy. Using equipment from a company like playgroundequipment.com, you can get kids running around and keep your employees moving, chasing after them.
You can choose equipment designed solely for children or fitness stations for both children and adults. Either way, playground equipment encourages families to meet up during lunch hour and spend some quality time on office property. It also extends the amount of time they can spend together since it eliminates the need to drive to meet up.
2. Consider Everyone’s Comfort
Once you’re done with the outside, it’s time to redecorate indoors with ergonomic upgrades. Maybe it’s time for new chairs, standing desks, or meeting tables, or a complete and total redesign. Sitting at a desk all day can have dire consequences for employees’ backs, shoulders, and other muscles. Find ways to show them that you care about their overall health, with easier details on the body.
Consider adding cozy details, like comfy couches with pillows and even blankets for comfort. Try adding a nap room or a wellness area where employees can chill out, close their eyes for a bit, meditate, or practice gentle yoga. Let your employees know it’s healthy to take time to rest and recharge, and it might even increase their brain function and overall productivity.
3. Create Better Bathrooms
Many companies with beautifully renovated offices overlook one crucial area. They redo the desks, the conference rooms, and even the kitchen, but they totally forget about the bathrooms. Ideally, replace your old American-style gap doors with something a little more full coverage. Even better, add a gender-neutral bathroom, a breastfeeding area, and a couple of shower stalls.
If you can’t afford a complete rehab, you can still make your old office bathrooms feel more upscale. Choose luxe hand soaps and lotions and add free feminine hygiene products, hair products, and other toiletries. Regardless of what you add, remember to stay on top of the basics: always ensure plenty of toilet paper, soap, and paper towels.
4. Bring the Outside In
Chances are your office could feel less fluorescently lit and less chemical smell. Meanwhile, you’re spending a fortune on light and air conditioning when it’s gorgeous outside. You might not be able to install new windows or add an outdoor patio. Still, do what you can to let in more natural sunlight and more fresh, outside air.
Open blinds and windows where possible instead of turning on lights and AC. Strategically placed mirrors and fans increase the impact of natural light and breezes. To make things feel even more at one with nature, add some plants throughout the office. Pothos, snake plants, and aloe vera are easy to keep alive even in a suboptimal office climate.
5. Create Social Areas and Quiet Zones
Most modern offices are somehow designed to punish both introverts and extroverts simultaneously. Chaotic cubicle farms make it too noisy to concentrate on your work, while high walls around each desk make chatting inconvenient. “Open-plan” offices and hot desking are even worse, allowing no privacy or solace. Instead, why not create different types of spaces for different functions and personalities?
Some office areas use couches, large tables, and coffee stations to make it easier for employees to socialize and co-work. In other areas, consider adding soundproofing materials, using white noise machines, and offering free noise-canceling headphones. These areas can have cubicles or—better yet—individual rooms or pods with closed doors. According to office furniture company Haiken, “work pods can contribute to productivity by providing a dedicated space for focused work.”
6. Offer Healthy Food and Snacks
Over the past few years, there have been major cultural changes in the U.S. regarding healthy eating habits. Many Americans are more conscious about what they put in their bodies, preferring minimally processed, organic, and low-calorie options. Despite this shift, most offices are still fairly lacking in the snack department. If food is offered, it’s often pizza, fast food, and packaged snacks like chips, candy, and soda.
To make your office space more inviting, make it easy for employees to get the energy they need to do their best work. Offer fresh fruits and vegetables, packaged nuts and seeds (check for allergies first), fruit-infused water, herbal tea, and other nourishing goodies. If you have a large office, don’t relegate healthy snacks to the kitchen; disperse them at stations throughout the space. When you order food for a meeting or event, consider balanced options like Thai or Mediterranean instead of the usual pizza or fried foods.
Starting Small
Not every company or office has the budget to make major changes immediately. However, you can still do a lot for very little cash to make your office space more welcoming. A pitcher of cold water with orange slices, a new plant, or a spritz of essential oils can immediately boost a musty office atmosphere. A box of free pens, snacks, or tampons could make employees feel more valued and cared for.
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