Creating Commute Worthy Workplaces

Crafting Workspaces Worth the Commute

Creating commute worthy workplaces is something all employers should be trying hard to achieve – especially since working remotely has become part of the new normal, enabling employees to choose whether to hybrid work or visit the office in person. In order to inspire employees to work in person, in the office you have worked hard to get, you need to create a commute worthy workplace.

In this article SEC Group highlights some of the main benefits of in person working, and letting you know how to optimise your office environment into a commute worthy workplace.

Benefits of employees being in office:

As convenient as working from home can be, there are almost limitless benefits to employees coming back to the office; not just including for a positive work culture. Let’s take a look into some of these now!

Unintended collaboration and improved communication

Office spaces and in person working play a key role in collaboration and innovation, and the overall employee experience. When working in an environment alongside others, you are much more likely to converse about the tasks you are completing; through brainstorming sessions or friendly conversation – which will inevitably encourage opinions and thoughts to be shared.

Collaboration through communication can make a work day not only more enjoyable for employees but also more productive, as thoughts and solutions can be created at a faster rate.

Positive work environment – relationship building and company culture

Another benefit of in person working is the positive atmosphere and company culture that can be created; which as hard as we might try cannot be replicated through team meetings or group-chats when doing remote work.

Working in offices can enable workers to effectively read the emotions and moods of those around them, and communicate much more effectively. Shared work environments can provide employees with this sense of community that fosters activity based working, productivity and happiness within their jobs, which is why it’s of the utmost importance to have a space that your team wants to commute to, and will enjoy spending time in and working from.

A good office space and company culture will improve employee’s wellbeing, and encourage them to be more focused, energetic and passionate about their work and specific role.

Employee experience has huge potential to impact a business in terms of both reputation and performance – remote workers will not get the same chance to enjoy their work and the culture of the company as employees in office; and so are more likely to care less about their work and the level at which they complete tasks to.

Work- life balance

Working in person offers employees a better opportunity for an effective and sustainable work- life balance.

This is achieved by have separate physical locations for your work life and for your home life – having an office space that you commute to will clearly allow your brain and body to distinguish when to be productive and when having downtime is ok.

When working remotely it can be easy to keep working past the time you are expected to clock off, or to go back to check your tasks or emails when you should be relaxing and enjoying time off after working hard. This is because your brain will learn to associate location with action: for example, when you get into bed you may suddenly become aware of how tired you are, or when you are in the gym your body may anticipate having to work out and so starts supplying you with more energy and relevant chemical reactions.

If you have an area in your bedroom or kitchen dedicated to being your home office area – or worse, you work from your sofa or bed – whenever you sit in or around these areas your brain will enter ‘work mode’ again, and go into the same mindset you would be in while you are working. This can prevent you from ever switching off and relaxing from work. For similar reasons, you may find it hard to motivate yourself or get into the right headspace when working from home – your brain and body associates your house, local coffee shop, or wherever you are choosing to work remotely from, with being in a non-working or potentially non productive mindset.

Being able to leave your office, and the work with it, will allow you to tune out of your working mindset and take time for yourself, your friends, family and hobbies at the end of a long working day or week.

Missing out

If you are working remotely you may feel that you are missing out – on the companionship of working alongside your coworkers, the creativity that comes from in person collaboration, or with the overall environment that comes with a happy office space – whatever the reason for it, FOMO is a classic and relatable feeling for remote workers.

By having a workspace that is worth the commute, these feelings will get eradicated and your employee experience greatly improved.

Company loyalty/ employee retention

By having a workplace worthy of commuting, the company loyalty and employee retention rates will be greatly increased.

When your employees are happy within their roles and their workplace, they will not only be more productive and mentally healthy, but will be much more likely to stay within the company. Retaining employees can prove vital to running a successful business; hiring a new individual and training them up will take time and effort as well as money – keeping the same reliable employees working with you will streamline your processes and avoid slowing down your progress and growth. Having a commute worthy workplace will ensure employees are happier within their roles and so will be likely to stay within your company.

What can employers do?

As an employer trying to make a work space worth the commute, you will have to work hard to try to create the most optimal working environment that you know your employees will love.

There are many ways you may choose to go about this, but the approach you choose will largely depend upon your personal and business preferences.
Your office should be well planned, organised, and cater to the needs and preferences of those who will be using it, whilst being aesthetically pleasing and comfortable – you want the space to be enticing to existing workers, any clients and anyone else who may visit the work space.

How to make an office space commute worthy

Some of the most popular and cost effective methods of optimising your space and creating a commute worthy workplace includes:

• Keep spaces organised and pleasing on the eye – your working environment should be uplifting and nice to be in. Incorporating biophilic elements, such as plants and natural lighting, as well as lounge areas with relaxed seating or foosball tables to give employees a place to relax and focus on particular tasks, can optimise efficiency and happiness within employees.
• Make your space inclusive – this could be anything from gender inclusive toilet signs to having designated rooms or spaces for prayer or meditation, to making sure that everyone can reach the cups and utensils, to enable employees to function with ease and comfortability throughout their day.
• Ensure you have comfortable furniture – employees’ health and physical wellbeing should be taken into consideration, and they should be made to feel the space was made with them in mind. For example, if workers have bad backs there should be comfortable seating (such as ergonomic chairs), adjustable desks or cushions that will help relieve this as best as they can.
• Have a selection of separate work spaces – having a variety of different work spaces and areas will give you options of where you want to work; i.e. having an area of comfortable seating or beanbags, or the option of sitting at a desk or in a separate room, allowing individuals to decide where they would work best.
• Set up in person events and gatherings – having in person events and gatherings with colleagues or with other organisations and companies can prove a huge motivating factor for employees to come into the office. Getting the opportunity to socialise with coworkers or new individuals outside of a strict work setting gives the opportunity to build friendships and stronger connections; which can then encourage better company culture.
• Expand in person training and mentoring – by providing the opportunity for in person mentoring and training for employees there is an incentive for top talent and knowledge hungry individuals to make the journey into the workplace for a valid and worthwhile reason.

SEC Group – Experts at Creating Commute Worthy Workplaces

If you are looking to create a commute worthy workplace for you and your team SEC Group are here to help. SEC Group are experts in optimising workspaces in order to increase productivity and functionality, while making them enticing to employees, visitors and potential hires.

Contact us today for advice, solutions, materials, and a commute worthy workplace.