Does Your Work Environment Matter?

In a world where flexible work is becoming the norm, more and more people are starting to question what work environment suits them best. And they’re less likely to settle for a workspace that doesn’t meet their needs. In a bid to address this, employers have made substantial investments on company wellness programs and perks such as onsite gyms, meditation rooms, standing desks, and games rooms, in recent years. In fact, it’s expected that an average of $3.6 million was spent on such amenities in 2019 alone.

However, they’ve been doing it wrong. A recent Harvard study suggests that such wellness programs really aren’t received as well as employers think. The reality is that employees really just want the very basics covered, to begin with, without all of the bells and whistles attached. That means good natural light, optimum air quality, and the option to personalize their own workspaces.

Natural light and air quality have been proven to enhance employee productivity, well being, and happiness, much more than the “pool table” and “free yoga classes” that are the “in” thing with so many startups and large-scale US organizations.

A well-ventilated, high-quality workspace with natural light and regulated temperatures can reduce cases of absenteeism by up to four days annually, thus saving companies around $2,650 per salaried worker each year. But… companies are providing games consoles instead?

When these basic needs are met, research by Gartner has found that employee productivity increases by 16%, with 18% of employees more likely to remain with the company. So whilst that games room might seem like a perk in a job description, meeting the basic needs of employees is what will help companies to retain them in the long-term and also increase their ability to attract new talent.

The Effects of Office Morale in the Workplace

If you’ve ever been around a negative person or someone who’s simply feeling down, you know that it can be a pretty uncomfortable experience in an office environment. This negativity can easily spread and bring everyone else down too. It also tends to lead to unnecessary arguments that have a terrible impact on the office atmosphere and lead to distractions that severely impact productivity. The team at Hubstaff recently reviewed the importance of employee experience and noted that “chronically disengaged employees cost the U.S. between $450 and $550 billion dollars in lost revenue each year”!

However, although a negative attitude can have a detrimental effect on maintaining an optimal working environment, positivity can do the opposite and it’s just as contagious. Once employees are happy and satisfied in their work, they’re likely to work harder and produce higher quality output. If you find yourself managing or working within a team that has a number of negative employees, it’s important to address this immediately and get to the root of the problem.

This will often do the trick as negativity is usually down to pent up frustrations about something the employee is unhappy within their work. But if you can’t figure it out, they’ll have to go. If it’s a colleague rather than your own employee, it’s a good idea to talk to your supervisor about your concerns for the person and explain the effect their attitude is having on your productivity and well-being.

The Impact of the Remote Work Revolution

It’s common to think of an office environment when you think of a workplace. But technology is quickly changing how we think about how and where we work, so much so that workplaces have become increasingly mobile. The traditional office has been transforming before our eyes for the past few years, albeit with a few teething problems. Many companies have been reluctant to get on board mainly due to a fear of the unknown and an unwillingness to take on the challenge of adapting to a remote work culture.

But in recent years, these concerns have been alleviated with the rise of technology and task management systems such as Buckets that empower both remote work employers and employees in adapting to this new way of working. Businesses have also realized that they need to get on board with the remote work trend whether they want to or not, or they risk losing some of their most valuable employees.

“74% of employees […] would quit their jobs to work for an organization that would allow them to work remotely more often, even if their salary stayed the same.” — Softchoice survey, 2017

Businesses are slowly starting to realize that workplaces have become non-stationary and the idea of a digital workspace is now well -recognized. Rather than a place where we go to work, the digital workspace is where our work comes to us, wherever we are. This way of working utilizes technological advancements in project management apps that deliver instant access to the information and resources employees need to do their jobs.

Digital project management solutions such as Buckets help employees who prefer to work remotely and businesses that offer this option, by improving communications, collaboration, and the flow of information within organizations so that processes are created and maintained to ensure optimal productivity and efficiency.

Another key benefit of the technology behind the digital workspace is that it makes it even easier for employees to keep up to date with their workloads and communications by providing a real-time means of collaboration. A recent McKinsey report stated that employees spend an average of 9.3 hours per week searching and gathering information. Having a digital space that contains all of the business knowledge an employee might need, right at their fingertips, drastically reduces that number.

Within the digital workspace, employees have one place where they can access the information they need when they need it, without the inconvenience of interrupting colleagues or wasting time trying to retrieve the info from different sources. Whether they work from a remote or office environment.

Working remotely can dramatically improve the way employees work by reducing things like travel costs and making more and more jobs accessible to people living in rural areas or those who simply want a more flexible way of living. This in turn reduces stress and increases productivity. In fact, the Remote Collaborative Worker Survey revealed that a whopping 77% of employees report increased productivity whilst working remotely, and 64% of global businesses reported that flexible working has had a positive impact on the productivity of employees in their organizations. In addition, a total of 86% of employees surveyed by Fundera stated that they are most productive when they work from home.

But What Exactly is the Optimal Work Environment?

The best work environment is one that can adapt to the needs and requirements of its employees so they can perform their work to the best of their ability. The general “always-on” mentality that has accompanied the digital era has led employees to expect much more leeway from employers in terms of how they fulfill their responsibilities. Fortunately, more and more companies have recognized the need to grant this leeway in order to gain a competitive advantage when attracting and retaining talent. In fact, in many organizations, flexible working options are no longer a perk — they’re the norm.

Does this mean that every company needs to go fully remote in order to provide the best working environment? No. It means that every company should provide employees with the flexibility to work remotely as they so choose. This shift will become more and more evident as companies continue to recognize the value in allowing this flexibility and see the bottom-line impact it has on the productivity of employees as a result.

Not everyone will work best out of the office. Some employees thrive on working in an office environment and others thrive working alone, in whatever location that may be. If productivity is the ultimate end goal for an organization, then surely it should allow for any way of working that helps it to achieve that end goal and allow employees to work in an environment that best suits their style of working.

There’s a Reason This Turned into a Post About Remote Work

The reality is the ideal workspace is the one that allows employees to work in a manner that they are most productive, and studies have shown that flexible working options can provide optimal results. Does this mean that you personally will work best remotely? No. But it does mean that, as a whole, flexible working options provide employees with the opportunity to work in an environment that best suits them. Whether that’s in an office, a coffee shop, or their own home.

Thanks For Reading!

Buckets helps to supercharge collaboration and organization needs across the world. If you enjoyed reading this post, please let us know by clicking and holding down the 👏 button!

To sign up for Buckets, just click here.

For regular updates from the Buckets team, you can also catch us on Twitter @bucketsdotco.