Let's face it - if you're a business owner - it's all about making money and keeping your employees happy. Office culture has become something very much in the public's attention as of late. We've been bombarded with images and videos of offices around the world which excel in the niche of 'office culture' - providing in-office slides so that people don't need to walk down the stairs or 'inside gardens' so that employees can enjoy a beautiful garden even if it's raining outside.
And whilst we may not all be capable of such things, and many of us might not have the budget for a complete structural redesign of our office buildings - we can give our employees smaller (affordable) perks that will see their moods lifted and their productivity lifted too.
So what are these perks I hear you cry? Well keep reading to find out:
1. Kindles
Encourage your employees to broaden their horizons by purchasing them each a Kindle. It's not a large expense (as far as things go) and it'll help encourage them to not only read more about their industry but also read more in general. Reading is a great hobby to cultivate in office spaces as it stimulates conversations too. Plus, for all those gadget lovers - this will give them a gadget fix!
2. Get technical
Start buying your team some good technical software to help support their work load and help lift any stress that bad software might be causing. Think about investing in screen sharing software or audio conferencing software - which are both great for solving problems or dilemmas remotely.
3. Team Building
Team building isn't something difficult to organise - there are actually loads of companies that will organise team building activities for you, especially if you live and work in a big city. Getting your whole team together for a big team building session will help them feel confident and comfortable around other team members - which can only ever improve productivity.
4. Make life comfortable for them
It may sounds obvious, but making those little efforts to ensure your staff are comfortable is really important. If your employees travel a lot for work - look into booking them business class for flights. Or if that's a little out of reach (budget-wise) look into booking them into an airport lounge. Airport lounges, like No.1 Traveller offer than nice bit of comfort before flying, and keep the bank balance in tact too. The main thing though? Your employee will really appreciate the gesture of you booking them in.
5. Say thank you
Don't ever be too senior to say thank you. Keep a track on your businesses targets, and if you exceed them one month, then send out a big email saying thank you for all their hard work. It can be easy to get 'too corporate' sometimes in business, so getting personal and showing manners is always good. Your staff will feel valued - and that makes people feel happy.
6. Celebrate birthdays
Sounds pretty obvious right? You'd be surprised how many businesses will simply by-pass an employees birthday. You can be as big or small with this as you like - maybe you give your employee half a day off on their birthday? Or maybe you just get a box of cupcakes delivered to their desk at lunch time. Either way - feeling valued like this is a major way of getting everyone work-happy.
7. Invest in them
The best businesses out there invest in their employees. Send them off to conferences, encourage them to grow in their understanding of your industry by spending a bit of time and money on them. Send them for expert training, let them try out a new project or idea... the possibilities are endless. Again, this is about the member of staff feeling valued and feeling like their part of something special.