Why Being in the Office Will Make Your Team Happier and Healthier
‘Sick days at work hit highest level for 10 years’ was the disheartening headline in the BBC Business recently. Stress, depression or anxiety accounted for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health in 2021/22 (hse.gov). A plethora of research consistently points to working from home being a major player to the negative impact of mental health. We are naturally social beings that miss connections, communication and collaborations we have with colleagues on a daily basis. Working from home brings a unique set of challenges; distractions, burnout, expectations and the blurred lines between home and work. With this in mind, we look at how you can get your team wanting and choosing to be based in the office.
Collaboration
One clear advantage of the office is simply collaboration. Face-to-face dialogues and high levels of innovation are more effective in person than down the phone. The Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon called working from home an ‘aberration’ and not in line with the banks ‘innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture’ (Guardian September 2021). Whilst across the pond this summer, Google brought its employees back purely in the name of collaboration. When Silicon Valley (who were some of the initial remote working frontrunners) calls its staff back to the office, you know it’s time to sit up and listen.
Flexibility
‘An estimated 4 million UK employees have changed careers due to a lack of flexibility at work’ (CIPD May 2023). Hybrid is here to stay. Expectations have changed and if companies simply want to retain and capture the best talent, an element of flexibility will be required. Companies are recognising the benefits hybrid working can offer, allowing a return to the office for set days whilst affording employees the balance of reducing the commute and other costs related to traveling into the office. Where people have more choice and control, they are more engaged, fulfilled and happy. They perform better.
Clarity
Set the standards. Allow your teams to create their own charter. One of the biggest hurdles in the workplace is change, so try having set office days. This allows employees to plan when they will see colleagues and set work targets and meetings accordingly. By having all staff members in, this allows face to face collaborations and consistency to work patterns and expectations.
Wellness
Offering additional wellness packages in conjunction with salaries can not only improve your corporate social responsibility, but incentivise being in the office. Whilst there has long been a trend for an office pool table or fancy coffee machine; benefits such as tax-free childcare or free lunch and breakfasts can be a real incentive; especially during a cost of living crisis. Some companies are taking wellness to new levels. UK company Heck built a ‘dog hotel’. Affording employees whom acquired dogs in lockdown to house them during the day, removing the need to pay for dog cover whilst encouraging them to get fresh air on their lunch break. Perhaps just keep it simple and offer an extra day off for employee’s birthdays…
Aspirational office
This is where we come in. We strongly believe that a well-designed office is the key to productive and collaborative working. Office spaces should be there to encourage, assist and afford employees to achieve best working practice. Offices can be ergonomic with height adjustable desks throughout to bring about better movement and posture. Offices ought to offer breakout spaces for relaxation, lunches and down time. Agile working to ensure the space accommodates for as many as possible and flexible meeting areas to afford a trajectory of collaborative spaces and working. Steelcase, an industry leading manufacturer, carried out research into hybrid working and concluded offices need to be like neighbourhoods; ‘including a variety of interconnected space types that support a mixture of uses, feel organic and flow naturally from one to another’. We couldn’t agree more.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to bring a similar vision to your office space.
