Photo credit: Inkyhack
It’s no secret that making employees happy isn’t optional, it’s an outright requirement. College graduates and seasoned job seekers aren’t looking for a place that pays the bills and puts food on the table, they want the kind of work-life balance seen at Google, Apple and beyond. Putting up an office building with cubicle farms and stuffy décor is a thing of the past. In today’s competitive job environment making your place of business inviting and inventive is just as important as your standing on the Inc. 5000 list.
Here are five steps to creating workplace euphoria:
1. Are you unintentionally making bad impressions? When potential candidates are on site for an interview what does the setup of your office say to them? If you market your business as a technology innovator but devote more office space and employees resources to marketing, what does that tell your candidates? Your office space is telling candidates a lot about your business that you may not be articulating.
2. Make the most of your office space! Employees spend the majority of their waking lives at your office building. Try to make it an enjoyable place to be starting with décor. If your office feels like a sterile environment (no office to doctors and laboratory researchers) it likely won’t be a fun place to be. Make your office visually interesting and stimulating. Don’t be afraid to add color, new and old artwork, and a fun place for employees to go during breaks. Adding Foosball, Ping-Pong or a pool table can be just what your employees need to get refocused and re-energized during a long workday.
3. Evaluate your Vision, Mission and Values. As you would expect, Vision, Mission and Values should say a lot about who you are and what you do. While they may not tell the entire story, when a potential employee is researching your business they will undoubtedly try to find your Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and Core Company Values. These three items can tell a candidate a whole lot about your business focus and culture. When writing (or rewriting) these statements, don’t forget about ALL of your stakeholders…not just the ones that currently pay the bills.
4. Live, breath, eat and sleep your culture. Owning your culture is much easier said than done. If a piece of your culture is to allow employees to work flexible hours or casual dress, don’t stifle them by overriding their given authority. If you have the right team on the bus they should understand the importance of being in the office when meetings are being held and will act (and dress) accordingly. You may even be surprised by the output of your staff based on these simple freedoms. Those that abuse this authority will have to be weeded out.
5. People talk. Try to stay tuned in. Don’t for one second think that former and current employees aren’t talking about you; good or bad. And this isn’t just casual conversation while out at happy hour or over dinner. There are plenty of spaces online where these folks can vent, give feedback to future employees or even provide salary information based on job title to the masses. Smart job seekers are looking at this information and it’s playing a large part into whether or not they accept the job you offer them.
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