As COVID-19 restrictions ease and the world of work moves from the home office back to the company office, this is a fantastic opportunity to expand your organisation’s Employee Care culture. Everyone knows that happy customers bring in the moolah, but happy employees are every bit as important to your business.

Remember, higher productivity, lower absenteeism, lower attrition and a highly engaged team all make a difference to your company’s bottom line! With COVID-19 still lurking around, it’s more important than ever for businesses to show how much they value their people. Here are some ways you might like to implement employee care at your workplace.

Rebuild trust and a positive environment

Coming back to work full time in the office might not be the be-all-and-end-all solution. For some companies, working from home has been a revelation, in a good way! Think about giving your staff a choice. Maybe working from home two days a week is a happy compromise. Talk it over with your team and let your decision be guided by logistics, tasks involved and their work-from-home performance.

Provide a wellness space

Find a space where your staff can take mini ‘wellness breaks’. It could be as simple as a chair in a quiet space or a whole room dedicated to comfort and rejuvenation. Kit it out with comfy seating, tissues, hand sanitiser, chilled water, a fragrant candle, healthy snacks and a lamp (for dimmed lighting). When stress bites, even fifteen minutes of down-time can make a ton of difference.

Encourage creativity

Having been stuck at home a lot more, even if still coming to work part time at the office during COVID-19, people have been feeling stifled. Now is a great time to encourage your team to let their ideas out. Put a whiteboard or chalk board in full view in the office and encourage everyone to contribute. It might become a mood board, a list of affirmations or a real-world Pinterest board. Or, it could be somewhere for games of hangman and noughts and crosses, or a running daily tally of KPIs met. The important thing is that everyone should have access to it, and it should stimulate their creativity and get them coming together.

Promote change in the workplace

Switch things up a bit! Discuss with your team if things could work better if something were different. Move some desks around, find ways to let in more natural light, implement a buddy system or allow background music to be on throughout the day. These kinds of changes refresh the mood of the workplace and staff really appreciate them.

Get everyone up and moving

Activity should never be underestimated. People need to move! Get your team involved in a discussion about how to move more in the day. Should the printer or scanner be relocated? Can you put a treadmill or exercise bike in the office and have everyone do a ten-minute stint once a day? Encourage walks around the block or even a couple of laps around your large offices.

Employee care will look different for every organisation. You want your team to be firing on all cylinders, mentally and physically so invest in a little extra care for your people and you’ll be handsomely rewarded.