5 Things To Consider When Reinvigorating Your Workplace

By Ashley Paskill on November 10, 2021

Every so often, it is a good idea to reinvigorate your workplace for your employees. It is especially important now after Covid-19 as more and more companies are moving back into working in person. Getting people excited to be back in person and in the office again can be difficult, but if you take certain things into consideration, you will be able to figure out exactly what your employees need to feel energized at work.

Make careful word choices

Your wording, while seemingly innocent to you, may be interpreted differently by your employees. This is especially important as your employees have faced several challenges since returning to in-person work. Be careful not to say anything “political” pertaining to recent events as you never know how this will impact your employees. In general, you may say something that you think is harmless but your word choice or your tone of voice may come off as offensive to your employees. Words matter, and saying the wrong thing or saying something in a hurtful or passive tone can leave your employees feeling hurt. If you catch yourself or are corrected later about something you said, make an effort to approach the employee and apologize and learn from the mistake.

Show appreciation often

Showing your appreciation should not wait until a particular goal is met. Your employees are making huge efforts every day, and it is important that you show your appreciation. If they are working overtime to complete a project, buy them lunch and send them emails to show how thankful you are. Shout out individuals or departments who are going above and beyond at weekly or monthly meetings. Even at the end of the day, something as simple as saying, “Great work today!” can make a huge difference in helping your employees feel appreciated. Try to avoid the temptation to wait until something big happens, as to your employees, completing small tasks towards big goals can seem important.

Image: Aaron Burden via https://unsplash.com/photos/zunGugEsJCE

Offer professional growth

Employees who feel stuck in their current position or do not feel like there is room for improvement will feel bored, which ultimately will impact their performance. Offering mentoring can help your employees connect with other employees and help see what is possible for them within the company. Having your employees take trainings will help them continue to learn and grow. You may even want to have them take on harder tasks if they have been excelling in tasks they are already doing. Seek out information on what kinds of opportunities for professional development your employees want, as this will help them know that they do matter and their growth within the company is important to you.

Promote wellness

From a global pandemic to mental health issues, your employees are juggling so much and it can be tough to balance everything they have going on. Promoting wellness is crucial for making your employees feel cared for and ready to do their best every day. Make sure your employees know about any programs you have in place for them to help make sure they are taking care of themselves and their families. Encourage workouts and offer healthy lunches. Be flexible with employees struggling with physical or mental health issues, especially if this requires them to be out of work a day or two. Offer distractions like bringing in animals from local adoption agencies for an hour or two for employees to play with.

Keep communication open

Communication is key within any workplace. Employees want to feel like their opinions matter and their voices are heard. They may bring up issues in a meeting or privately that need to be addressed. Be sure that you are allowing them to voice these issues and concerns, and actually take action or explain why things can’t be changed. Be sure that your employees know the chain of command for addressing workplace issues. Issues in the workplace, whether it is disagreements or more serious matters, can make your employees dread coming to work, especially if they feel like there is no way for things to get better. Knowing the policies and means of communication about issues they may be facing can help them see what there is hope for things getting better.

Also, allow employees to communicate with each other. Have specific channels on your productivity chat site where lighthearted conversation is encouraged so employees have positive things to look at when needed without having to use their time searching elsewhere. If you see employees talking to each other for a few minutes, avoid breaking up the conversation unless it really starts interfering with their work tasks. A few minutes here or there to catch up is fine. Having these breaks, and not having them brought down, will help foster a sense of community in the office.

Reinvigorating the workplace may seem difficult, but there are things you can consider in order to make sure your employees know they are valued and make them eager to come to work each day.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get College Recruiting News Monthly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format