Your employees spend their life’s essential hours at the office, so it is important for them to feel happy and comfortable at work. It is quite impossible to enjoy work always, but the environment and the surrounding workplace culture have a huge impact on how people feel about their colleagues and jobs. Let us take a look at ways to create an employee-friendly workplace to boost productivity and employee engagement.

1. Great Company Culture

Company culture is a mix of values, structure, leadership style, internal communication and so on. How a company runs internally impacts the workplace environment significantly. And it should be worked on consistently and not as a one-time agenda. To build a great company culture, all members of the organization, across all levels must participate. The leadership team should demonstrate and promote values to nurture employee growth and encourage them to deliver of their best.

Nothing can be worse than a workplace where the tapping of keyboards or a sigh here and there are the only sounds that can be heard. People feel afraid to speak when it is so quiet. So, you should encourage your employees to talk to each other. Today, more than 80% of the employees say regular conversations with their managers would make them feel more confident. This means you should keep your doors open always. The focus should be on creating a shared work environment that helps healthy communication and constructive feedback too. The company’s norms should be well-defined and well-accepted, but it should also be flexible when the need arises.

2. Embrace Diversity

The people comprising the workforce naturally have a great impact on the environment. The NextGen workforce identifies itself as global citizens. They do not just accept diversity in the workforce, but also welcome diversity. And today, with digital media, more and more businesses are becoming global entities. For your company to have a global identity, your workforce must also be inclusive and diverse. When people from different ethnicities, regions, traditions and social structures come together, they bring novel ideas to the table. They provide fresh perspectives on issues and more problem-solving measures.

Therefore, diversity at the workplace is not just a trend to follow or a number to fill, but diversity helps you to also build a strong work culture and helps your business eventually.

3. Show Appreciation

Everyone loves praises. Remember to let people know when they do some praiseworthy good work. It can also be a great motivator. Moreover, it can play a significant part in your strong workplace-building culture. And with technology, you can do wonders. You can try to integrate your communication platform with a special reward and recognition. It can help you to show appreciation without too much trouble. It will also allow you to hold onto your best talent and help you communicate organizational values. Getting everything in one platform will allow you to control costs, measure results and build companywide stability.

4. Encourage Exercise

Exercise can improve health, mood, and productivity. If your organization involves mostly sedentary work, encourage people to take breaks and walk around. You can even try to make your workplace pet-friendly. Having indoor activities for employees can be a superb way to relax. In fact, many Y-Gen employees say they would want to be associated with a company that promotes employee well-being. Moreover, pets at workplaces have helped in lowering stress levels and creating a comfortable environment.

5. Design Comfortable Workplace

Modern workspace designs are important for employee satisfaction. Colors have a significant impact on the workplace environment. Remember to add colorful elements while designing the office space. And natural daylight is believed to enhance efficiency and improve sleep. So, when you design the workstations see that your employees can enjoy enough natural light. And in case you cannot get access to natural light, install daylight bulbs to brighten up the place and cheer up people’s moods.

Moreover, offices, where people can feel physically comfortable and at ease, help enhance moods and improve the day-to-day work experience. So, ensure the furniture is not just comfortable, but also ergonomically designed. You can also place some plants since they are a great productivity booster. For non-work spaces make sure to provide plenty of spaces for your staff to take short breaks, grab a cup of tea or coffee and catch up with co-workers.

6. Healthy Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is the most important criterion for any job-seeker today and significant for employee engagement practitioners. Work-life balance can come in the form of flexible office timings, work-from-home options, more vacation time and so on. You should follow a work environment that helps employees achieve a healthy work-life balance even during office hours. People become unproductive with overwork, so ensure some fun time. Organize activities for your teams and offer them a chance to let off steam and bond too. Weekend get-togethers can be an easy way to do it. This will help your people to interact and socialize and help in building a better workplace environment.