Who would have thought that the world of work would be unrecognizable a year or so ago? Nobody was ready for the massive changes that ran throughout every office building in the world. Remote working has become the norm and all of us are getting used to working alone in our own home office. However, as a business owner who needs their workforce to come back, you need more than just hope that it will get back to normal. You need to really listen to your employees and know, they don’t want to not come back. It’s just, they would like good reasons to come back to the office. So what do you do?
What Do Employees Want?
Many companies are desperate for their employees to return to the office but they don’t know-how. Here’s a tip; don’t sit in the office trying to brainstorm the ideas yourself. You need to just ask them! So you should work with your human resources department to conjure a questionnaire that you can send to every employee. The questions you ask are so important. So do not waste any time, just cut to the chase. Questions such as the following would be a good idea:
- Do you like your workspace? If not, write a comment on what you would change…
- Do you approve of the hygiene at work? How could it be improved?
- Would you come back to the office if there was a higher health-conscious culture present?
- Would you like to work in smaller or larger teams?
Better Equipment Will Be A Good Investment
Employees will work harder when they have the right equipment. For example, if you work with medical liquids, then you need the best medical fridge you can buy. This comes with a 5-year warranty, made from stainless steel and they give you advice on what kinds of things you can store inside. So your team can rely on the things they use, you should always give them access to the manual of the product. For example, if you work in manufacturing, you can share the drill manual for the drill that you use. Employees can read this in their own time, understand the features, tolerances, limits and uses of the products they work with. Inevitably, this will give them more confidence and fulfillment at their job.
Culture Is Still As Important As Ever
There is no escaping it, company culture is the front and center topic now. People care about the culture in which they are supposed to be at their best. So you should allow departments to express their culture through decorations, allow their hierarchies to naturally flourish, and teams to collaborate how they wish. Of course, you need to keep a handle on things to prevent silos, but allowing employees to organically return to their cultures is vital for them to feel at home again.
Employees will need to be given the old carrot and stick method to get them back to the office. The first course of action is to ask them what kinds of things they would like to improve at the workplace itself.
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