A study by Gallup shows actively disengaged employees costs the U.S. $450 to $550 billion in lost productivity every year. This is grim news, but a reminder that ignoring your employees’ happiness and overall productivity can cost you more than just a few lost hours a month of lost work. Fortunately there are simple ways to incenetivize your employees to work hard and stay engaged at work. Here are a handful of ways to make investments in your workplace for a more productive employee culture.
Encourage Physical Fitness
Don’t assume a decent salary, health and retirement benefits and paid days off are enough to attract and retain employees. To stand-out from the crowd of businesses offering the exact same thing, think bigger.
Offering a gym membership can give employees a reason to get out and burn off energy and stress, all while appreciating the incentive offered. Some companies forgo paying for memberships outright and instead simply reimburse employees based on how many times a month they hit the gym. Although it’s an investment to pay for memberships, you’ll see a return for your money in other areas. Healthier employees means an improvement in morale and a decrease in healthcare costs for the company.
Create a Pleasing Environment
No one wants to work in a dark, dingy office chained to a cubicle all day. For starters, open up your windows to add more natural light, declutter the office and discourage distracting chaos.
Next, think about Google as a role model for your employee incentives and motivating perks. They offer Lego stations, free healthy snacks, haircuts on site, laundry and dry cleaning services. But don’t worry if you don’t have a Google-sized budget.
Simply set up a snack and beverage station equipped with the latest coffee brewing systems and provide a large selection of healthy foods like fruits, protein bars, teas and flavored waters. Simply giving employees a place to recharge in the office can give them a productive boost to focus on the work at hand.
Give More Flexibility
If your business budget doesn’t allow for adding a tangible office perk like a fitness center, offer one that gives intangible ones instead. Allow your employees to arrive and leave late as needed for appointments and personal errands. Make it clear that as long as they don’t abuse the system and get their work done on time, they’re free to have some flexibility and wiggle room in their daily work routine.
You could also design a policy where half the office can work at home one Friday and the other half works from home the next.
Update Technology
Employees aren’t productive if they’re typing away on antiquated computers that are slow to save, can’t use their smartphones to send a simple client photo and otherwise jump through hoops to get their equipment to work. It’s frustrating for anyone to put up with out of date devices.
Consider allowing employees to bring their own devices to reduce your own overhead and reimburse them for their data plans and ongoing maintenance. Leasing equipment is also an option and usually includes cost-effective leasing advantages like free upgrades to the newest machines and technologies on a regular basis.
