Employees Do Their Best Work When They are Comfortable

employees comfort. Working remotely

If employees can remain productive for extended periods of time, their business tends to enjoy rapid growth. Unfortunately, this high level of productivity is not always sustainable, and it eventually slows for a variety of reasons. However, if you can make sure your employees are comfortable, then they will be more likely to maintain a manageable level of productivity. 

Most businesses have historically given employees enough to do their jobs, and that was that. This trend has slowly dissipated over the years as employers have become more cognizant of the benefits of making their employees more comfortable. Here are three ways you can increase employee comfort and, likewise, their productivity. 

Give them Hope Enough to Focus on Work 

People don’t usually leave their jobs because they don’t like the people, they don’t get enough time off, and they can’t stand the company culture. They leave because they will find someone who will pay them more or give them the edge they need to jumpstart their career. Just about all businesses want to see their employees work their way up in the company, but with higher turnover rates, it can become evident that workers would rather jump ship in certain scenarios than wait for these opportunities to become available. 

Employees will often find themselves stressed out or flustered over things external to their work, so the less stress they associate with the office, the better. While you might not be able to pay them in accordance with their talents in all cases, you can give them a sense of fulfillment by empowering them to work on projects that tap into their unique skill sets. Most people like being challenged just enough to keep themselves focused on the task at hand, and if they are focused, they’ll be less likely to leave for your competition. 

Extend More than Fringe Benefits 

While it’s certainly nice to provide snacks and drinks for your employees, it’s often the bigger-ticket items that will make the biggest difference in your workforce’s lives. It might be nice to provide them with Swiss Rolls, but when they can’t go to the dentist to address the cavities from uncontrollably eating said Swiss Rolls, it creates a serious point of contention for them. Do your best to provide adequate health and wellness programs, retirement programs, debt relief, and even student loan repayment if possible. 

Many of today’s workers don’t have the above; they only have their paychecks to rely on, and it is a major stressor. This is why they may seek out other opportunities. If you can invest in your staff beyond their compensation, such as by providing them with working technology and investing in their wellness, you can significantly reduce your turnover rate. 

Provide a Pleasant or Flexible Work Experience 

The pandemic has brought about a mindset shift in the modern worker. They now realize just how much time they are investing into their employer, and this doesn’t sit well with many of them. If you can give your team the ability to spend more time with their family or give them time to accomplish their goals outside of the office, you might find that they are more comfortable in their employment with you.  

Remember, not everyone can work remotely, and many people simply don’t (or won’t) want to. While remote operations can help in a certain capacity, it’s important to keep in mind what can and cannot be accomplished through remote operations. In cases where remote operations may not be feasible, you can instead adopt a flexible working schedule or hybrid workplace. 

How can your business make its employees more comfortable? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog for more introspective and thought-provoking business ideas. 

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Reopening Your Organization: Key Steps to Take

key steps to take before reopening your organization

While many states have at least partially opened, it remains to be seen if they will continue a steady pace forward to an eventual full reopening. Or conversely, if they will decide to pull back for a time. In other words, the process of recovering from a world-wide pandemic seems to be a process of two steps forward, and one step backward. Thankfully, many organizations have employed creative and innovative methods to keep their doors open as much as possible. All while protecting both employees and the clients they serve.

For those who may have gotten off to a shaky start, we will provide some helpful tips on how to make reopening your organization as smooth as possible.

Employee Safety First

While customers may come and go as they like, employees are obligated to remain in the workspaces their employer provides. Of course, organizations must follow government guidelines. These define how many people are allowed within a building at the same time. Employers may need to expand the distance between employee workstations, whether they spend most of their time sitting or standing. It’s also a good idea to keep up with the latest information regarding PPE (personal protection equipment). Allowing you to determine whether employees have the correct instructions on how to wear their various forms of protection. 

Stay Flexible When Reopening Your Organization

Many companies allowed their employees to work remotely right from the beginning of the pandemic. However, some have found they need at least some of their employees to work within their physical buildings. Still, some employees may have pre-existing health conditions that put them at a higher risk. Additionally, they could have a family member who is in a high-risk group.

In a normal world, it may be advantageous to have these people back in the office. However, if they do get sick, it will add an extra burden to their physical and mental health. Also, at best, they’ll still be required to quarantine for a two-week period. Now is the time to remain flexible. You must also realize it might not be possible to have the entire company operating as effectively as it could. 

Reassure the Public 

Let customers, vendors, and other company staff members with which your organization regularly comes in contact know that you are making every effort to honor their health and safety as well. This may include sending out a corporate email outlining all the steps your organization is performing. Thus, ensuring their interaction with your employees will remain a safe, positive experience.

If an organization has a physical building that customers or vendors will enter, let them know what you are doing to ensure their safety as well as your expectations of them, by posting a sign on the door which they can read prior to entering. Some organizations may want to include some details about their safety practices in their corporate phone greeting. Others may want to inform the public by way of an advertisement shown on TV or through a radio commercial.

Reevaluate Corporate Technology Security

Many organizations have employees working in entirely different settings than they did before the pandemic. This could mean the new settings open them up to additional security risks as they use technology devices and software apps in a way they never did before. For employees in a remote work environment, organizations need to consider who in the environment may potentially have access to confidential information and/or computer equipment, including logins used for various apps. 

All the different ways in which employees now use corporate computer equipment and software applications must be reevaluated to ensure that a company’s technology system as a whole, remains safe and secure.

If you would like to know more about how to successfully navigate reopening your organization after the pandemic, please contact us.

Why Are We Weary of Emerging Technologies?

why are we weary of emerging technologies

It seems that there’s a new emerging technology every week. So many of us can be forgiven for having entered into a kind of technology fatigue, in which emerging technologies become something to be avoided, perhaps even feared.

Or perhaps we’re just tired of constantly having to try and keep up with them.

What Causes Technology Fatigue?

So, why has this technology fatigue entered the equation? There are a few possible reasons:

  1. We feel that no sooner have we learned one system than we have to start over with the next. This is particularly true of software updates; even minor and incremental changes can eventually build fatigue and it’s a truism that nobody ever likes the website redesign. Until the next one, when they suddenly love it and want it back.
  2. The fear of the robots replacing us is growing. Some people have started refusing to use self checkouts because they feel bad that stores appear to be replacing cashiers (sometimes this is true, sometimes the technology is being used to free humans for more important things). People are afraid of losing power or their lifestyle, or even of descending into poverty. Many people also define their identity in part by the work they do.

Between those two factors, it’s unsurprising that employees will start to resist change. They may refuse to install software updates (which can end up including vital security patches), protest openly, or complain to each other around the water cooler, ruining morale. Some employees have been known to protest in ways which are destructive.

What if We Just Hold Off?

Unfortunately, holding off on adopting or ignoring emerging technologies can be literally fatal to a company’s business model. Companies which are left behind can end up going all the way out of business and becoming forgotten, or held up as a poster child. Who remembers Blockbuster or Borders?

So, companies have to find a balance between embracing emerging technologies and angering their workforce.

How Do You Decide Which Technologies to Embrace?

One way to keep the balance is to not embrace every single new technology that shows up. And you have two sources of information as to which technologies to use: Your employees, and your customers.

Satisfying the needs of your customers is always a goal. If customers are also resistant to a new technology, then you might consider not adopting it for now. If customers are embracing it, then you need to deal with it even if employees are resistant.

This means you have to deal with employee resistance, which primarily involves redirecting the attention of your employees to the positive aspects of the new technology. Warning them about a new UI and going through the new features and how to use them before pushing it, for example, can avoid the phenomenon of “everyone hates the new design” to a degree. People are naturally somewhat resistant to change, but they will resist it less if they understand how it will benefit them personally.

Make sure that everyone is given the opportunity to learn about and utilize the new technology, ideally as a group. Resistant individuals can then be approached separately and helped to understand how the new technology will improve their life. Be sure to have all kinds of learning styles catered to. Video tutorials are great for many people, but some people do not learn well from them and might prefer hands-on practice or just to be given a copy of the user manual to go through at their leisure.

It’s vital for businesses to embrace emerging technologies, at least until their customer base is uncertain about them. However, it’s equally important to make sure that you don’t leave your employees behind. To find out more about how to educate your employees about new technologies, contact Corner IT today.