Imagine if you could keep your employees happy with a few simple low-maintenance office hacks. Well, it turns out that you probably can. Just a few small interventions can often completely change how they feel.
Here Are 7 Low-maintenance Office Hacks to Keep Employees Happy:
1. Add Some Softer Ambient Lighting
Top of your list of priorities should be to add some software ambient lighting. Instead of bamboozling employees with harsh blue-light-emitting LEDs, replace them with softer LEDs or even incandescent bulbs, which put out a more natural spectrum.
Adjusting the lighting can help keep your employees healthy by reducing blood pressure and keeping their blood sugar levels low, preventing weight gain. It can also have an effect on their mental health, making them feel more relaxed than they otherwise would.
2. Add Some Foliage
Another low-maintenance office hack is to add some foliage to your offices. Making them more green can have a profound effect on worker psychology, improving well-being and motivation.
Don’t worry: you don’t have to spend a fortune on real plants. These days, you can get realistic artificial foliage that requires little to no maintenance. These installations are suitable for lobbies, kept next to desks, and communal areas, like canteens and breakout spaces.
3. Offer A Casual Dress Code
Office dress code isn’t conducive to health, especially for men who essentially have to wear a noose around their necks called a tie. Research shows that wearing tight clothing isn’t beneficial and can hurt the body, including higher stress levels.
That’s why it is essential to offer a casual dress code. Let employees wear comfortable clothing so that they can focus more on their jobs and less on shuffling around, trying to get comfy.
4. Create A Stretch Breaks Policy
Another policy you could implement is stretch breaks. These encourage workers to get out of their chairs and stretch or walk around for a bit every hour or so. This activity keeps the cardiovascular system active and increases the shearing forces on blood vessel walls, keeping them healthier.
5. Offer More Office Games
You could also try offering more office games to keep employees happy. These provide some light entertainment for workers between jobs, giving them some amusement they can enjoy before returning to their chairs.
Most offices stick with the basics, like foam dart boards and puzzle games. But you could always push the boat out and get something more extravagant, like an air hockey table (or something similar).
6. Provide A Mindfulness Corner
Another low-maintenance office hack is to provide your workers with a mindfulness corner. These give them some space to just chill out and enjoy themselves between long hours in front of the computer.
Actively encouraging meditation could also help employees. Keeping them in a calm state could allow them to get more done and push their careers forward.
7. Institute Short Meetings
Finally, you could implement short meetings to keep your employees happier. Limiting them to say, 15 minutes, could be an excellent policy for reducing burnout and simply allowing employees to get on with their work.
