Depending on the type of business you run, your staff might spend 40 hours or more at the office every week. If they’re field workers, they might pop by for weekly or monthly briefings, but if they have desk jobs, at least a third of their day will be spent at work. Keeping your team comfortable is a good way to boost their productivity levels.
People assume the only way to keep employees happy is to pay their salaries on time, but there are lots of other ways to motivate your staff. Offer benefits that improve their family lives. Things like child care or elder care go a long way, so you could invest in an office crèche, help with the bills for day-car centres and nursing homes, and offer flexitime.
The latter is often maligned and taken for granted, but a parent with young kids or a staffer with ailing parents will appreciate being let off work early so they can pick their kids from school or relieve their parent’s day nurse. Plus, allowing them to spend one or two days a week working from home makes a world of difference.
Keep your people fed
Within the office itself, perks like parking spots, affordable snacks, and in-office meals can really make life easier. It offers convenience, facilitates bonding between colleagues, and as a sneaky benefit, keeps your team within the office space, so you lose less time to long lunches, midday traffic, and queues at the local coffee shop. Also, it just boosts office morale.
Whether you’re a proponent of open plans or cubicles, ensure everyone has a comfy, ergonomic chair, since they’ll be sitting on it for hours at a time. Be generous with your staff medical programme, and allow it to encompass not just physical ailments but also mental health and overall well-being. Translation: include optical, dental, and psychological cover in your staff medical package. It’s worth it.
These may seem like over-reaching principles that are inaccessible to the regular work place, but your ‘comfy staff programme’ doesn’t have to be expensive. Think about little things you can do to improve office life, like installing a vending machine, a fridge, or quality coffee. Introduce training sessions so staffers can upgrade their skills, and implement holiday internships for their teens.
Optimal thermal control
One point that’s easy to overlook is physical comfort. The biggest battle in many offices is the AC war. In a space with ten or more people, it’s virtually impossible to settle on a room temperature that everyone is happy with. If the office dom sets it too low, that’s workable, because colleagues can wear shawls or scarves. They won’t be happy about it, but at least it’s an option. If the remote hog sets it too high, it’s not like their workmates can just strip …
This isn’t an argument that’s easy to mediate, so you might get a sneaky solution by going analogue. Instead of hiding all the batteries and remotes, install roller shutters. They double as a security feature, because they’re impervious to every criminal tactic from cyber-hacking and crowbars to glass cutters and battering rams.
They also offer protection from floods, bush fires, and tornadoes. You could set up an electronic system so they can be opened or closed by remote, but it’s just as easy to operate them manually by yanking them up and down. When you close them, the bottom latch automatically clicks shut, but you can reinforce it with a padlock. They come in a wide selection of colours, so they can be a good option for style and branding.
Comfort and safety
Probably their biggest convenience in this context is temperature control. Roller shutters are made using two aluminium panels with a layer of insulation between them. This protects them from physical damage, but also makes them good for thermal management. The insulation layer keeps heat in and cold out, depending on the weather.
When it’s hot outside, you can raise the shutters and open the windows to cool the office. On chilly days, lower the shutters to retain indoor heat and prevent the breeze from getting into the office. You can also opt for perforated shutters that have gaps for improved air circulation. They offer a view to the exterior portions of the office.
Series 3 shutters, mini-view shutters, and poly-view shutters all have see-through slots for visibility and ventilation. All these shutters are coated with protective paint that minimises ultraviolet damage, and when they’re closed, they can keep the rain out (as long as you buy a model with overlapping slats). Combine your office AC with roller shutters to lower power bills, or opt out of AC altogether and moderate your office temperature the roller way.
