Workplace Solutions

The four day work week has become a popular discussion among both employees and employers lately. With record-low unemployment rates, many companies are searching for ways to retain top talent by offering a variety of perks. A shorter workweek is one such benefit that’s attractive to employees. Who doesn’t want to have a longer weekend to spend more time with friends and family?

It’s not just employees who like the idea, either. Research has been conducted on the impact of a four day work week and shows that productivity can increase, so some employers are all ears to the idea.

But not all companies are created equal. Some, because of the industry or customer demand or a variety of factors, can’t just close the doors a day earlier. If that’s your company, what else can you do? Here are three options to consider in lieu of a four day work week.

3 Alternatives to the 4 Day Work Week

1. Offer More Flexibility

For a long time, salary was the most important factor when searching for a job. It almost always came down to money when a candidate was deciding on a job offer. When someone wanted to switch jobs, a better salary was often the reason. While salary is still important, other factors are now at play.

In today’s workplace, a good work-life balance is highly attractive, and it keeps both current employees happy and candidates engaged. Not only does making room for family, friends, and hobbies increase your overall happiness, it can improve your mental and physical health, and help prevent burnout.

If your company can’t provide a four day work week, consider giving employees more flexibility in their schedules. Allowing your employees to come and go as needed empowers them to be fully responsible for their own time and productivity. This can actually motivate them more.

Being flexible goes beyond employee happiness because when employees are happy, they tell everyone. Friends, family, and other potential candidates searching for a job will get their fill of stories about how awesome your company is, thereby attracting more talent.

2. Let Employees Work From Home

One of the core benefits of a four day work week is to reduce stress. But for companies that aren’t able to offer a shorter week, the next best thing is to allow employees to work from home.

A lot of managers are skeptical of work from home policies, as they envision employees lying around their house in their PJ’s and focusing more on laundry than important work matters. It can be scary implementing such a policy, for sure. But at the end of the day if you can’t trust your employees to do the work–whether they’re in the office, at home, or anywhere in the world–why hire them in the first place? The keyword here is trust.

In lieu of a shorter workweek, working from home can have a similar impact on employees. Some benefits include:

• Reduced stress
• Positive health impact
• Better work-life balance

The real benefit of establishing a work from home policy, however, is productivity. Common office distractions like last-minute meetings and coworkers randomly dropping by to chat are a non-issue. Employees can work distraction-free to reach a level of productivity they’re unable to achieve while in the office.

  Source: Remote.co

Tips for Implementing a Work From Home Policy

Ground rules are important for implementing a work from home policy. But for a manager who’s never done so, it can be a bit nerve wracking and lead you to setting some guidelines that only frustrate employees, which is the opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish. Some tips for creating a work from home policy include:

1. Trust your employees to do the work.
2. Schedule weekly meetings.
3. Give them the right tools.

Working from home has so many positive implications that it’s almost crazy not to have some form of policy. There are also plenty of digital tools available to help manage remote workers.

3. Encourage Breaks

Another way to add flexibility and improve your employees’ work-life balance is by encouraging them to take a break. Stepping away from work throughout the day for a little bit helps them regroup and connect with their fellow colleagues. However, even though it’s the law to provide breaks, many don’t take one. One study found that 33% of people don’t take a break at work.

Breaks go beyond a few minutes to shovel food in their mouths. You can extend your lunch break time and even provide a relaxing break room where employees actually want to spend time. Offering free office snacks is also a great way to show employees they’re valued and will encourage them to get away from their desks every now and then.

Whether you manage a small office with a handful of people or a large team in a corporate setting, keeping your team motivated is essential to success and overall happiness. Motivated employees have a better outlook, are more productive, and are generally happier.

But even the biggest go-getters come across the occasional lull. As a manager, part of your responsibility is to keep your team motivated and eager to do their best all the time. That’s no easy task, so we’ve compiled a list of ten areas to focus on to help give your team a little extra drive.

10 Ways to Motivate Your Team to be More Productive & Happier

1. Pay Them What They’re Worth

You don’t want to lose a great employee because they’re not paid enough. Make sure their salaries are consistent with their productivity. You also want to keep their pay in line with what other companies in your industry are paying to prevent them from jumping ship for higher pay.

2. Improve the Company Culture

In a study published in the Harvard Business Review, a company’s culture plays an important role in how motivated employees are. The research focused on three areas:

• How culture affects performance
• The worth of culture to an organization
• The processes that influence culture

The key findings? Performance is largely tied to why we work. There are better customer outcomes when a culture fosters certain characteristics such as more play, potential, and purpose. As for certain processes that impact a company’s culture, it varies and how the role is designed can have a big affect.

A company’s culture directly impacts employees perspective on work. Make sure your organization is actively pursuing a culture that inherently motivates employees.

3. Recognize Success (For the Whole Team)

As a manager, taking time to celebrate achievements should be a priority. Recognizing success can be a powerful motivator as it fosters a sense of fulfillment for employees in their careers. It adds to their sense of purpose. Do this both on an individual level and for the whole team. Encourage team members to recognize achievements among each other.

4. Keep Them Fueled

The infamous mid-afternoon slump can wipe out all the motivation in even the most determined employees. Help them maintain momentum to power through the day with the right snacks and beverages. A quality snack delivery service will do the trick without impacting your overall productivity.

5. Help Them Reach Their Full Potential

Leading a team is about more than just balancing workloads among each member. A good manager helps employees develop themselves professionally. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses becomes critical. Challenge them to go further in areas in which you know they struggle.

6. Provide the Right Tools

One major frustration that can deteriorate any team’s motivation at work is being asked to complete tasks without the proper tools available. It can wear employees down. For example, in today’s workplace, there are endless digital tools available to help manage and complete work. Make them available so your team can be more productive.

7. Ask Questions, Don’t Just Give Answers

One of the main factors of having a sense of purpose is finding solutions on your own. Instead of laying out the path to solving problems for them, ask questions that will energize them to figure out the solution by themselves. Nobody likes to be told exactly how to do their job.

8. Show Them How & Why Their Work Matters

When employees fail to see how their work impacts the big picture within an organization, engagement and productivity begin to decline. When leading a team, remember to always include them or their work in the company’s broader strategy.

9. Offer Opportunity for Growth

Not providing pathways to more opportunities leads to complacency, which will only breed unmotivated employees. Offer plenty of opportunities for your team members to grow where they can eventually take on new and bigger challenges.

10. Have Fun Together

People that get along well with one another also work well together. Help your team foster good relations among each other through team building exercises or something as simple as regular lunch meetings together.

Workplace conflicts are inevitable. With so many different personalities crammed into one space day after day, there are bound to be issues–big and small–that arise. If you’re a manager, chances are you’ve spent some time solving problems between employees. In fact, most managers spend 10-26% of their time handling conflicts.

In most cases the issues are work-related, but sometimes it’s personal.

Regardless of the problem, there’s one thing that’s certain: if a conflict is ignored for too long, it can lead to larger issues and ultimately affect office morale.

So, what causes conflicts in the workplace and how do you resolve them?

Common Causes of Workplace Conflicts

Communication issues. Poor communication is perhaps the most common cause of conflicts in the workplace. Sometimes it’s a misunderstanding, other times it’s a failure to communicate at all.

Structural issues. Differences between two departments can lead to problems, particularly when either side is unwilling to compromise.

Personality differences. A clash in personalities can lead to conflict as well. This includes the way one person handles a situation or a difference in values.

Whatever the issue, it is essential for managers and supervisors to recognize the problem and work to resolve it as soon as possible.

How To Resolve Conflicts In The Workplace

According to clinical psychologist Susan Heitler Ph.D., a collaborative effort is the best approach to handling problems between two people. This process works in three steps:

1. Recognition of the problem

2. Exploration of underlying concerns

3. Create a mutually agreeable solution

“For this process to work,” Heitler explains, “participants need to stay collaborative, like they are sitting on the same side of the table facing the problem, never flipping into oppositional or hostile stances toward each other.”

3 Tips To Help Manage Conflicts

1. Wait until both parties are calm. Getting two people to try and resolve the problem while they’re still angry or upset is not effective. Let some time pass to keep tempers from flaring up.

2. Be an active listener. When you sit down with someone to solve a problem, listen to understand. Try and see it their way.

3. Stay focused on the problem, not the individuals involved. By focusing on the problem and not the individual, you will avoid a personality clash that might cause even more problems.

There’s no doubt that every workplace needs some form of office snack service. Whether your employees got stuck in a long meeting and didn’t have time for lunch or simply need a tasty pick-me-up towards the end of the day, providing snacks in your office makes for a better workplace culture.

• Productivity
• Engagement
• Happiness

These are the results of offering snacks for employees. But the question is, how can you provide them? Here are three approaches to an office snack plan.

1. Vending Machines

Provided your office has space, vending machines are a good option if you’re looking for a quick and inexpensive way to offer snacks and beverages in your office. If you choose a full-service vending program, the machines will be delivered, installed, and maintained all at no cost.

2. Micro Market

Micro markets are great for larger office and workplace settings and allow for employees to purchase items through a kiosk. The convenience of a micro market is what makes it an attractive option for an office snack service.

3. Snack Delivery Service

Many employers are providing snacks as a perk to help attract and retain employees. There are several ways to go about purchasing the items, including a snack delivery service. This helps eliminate the hassle of sending an employee to the store to purchase all the product. The Supply Wizards online ordering platform connects you with a local vending operator that has hundreds of products to choose from and can deliver your choices in 1-2 days.

There are few places where people spend more of their waking hours than at work, which makes the company break room the primary location of comfort for a significant portion of the workweek. It’s a place where they can regroup after a bad phone call or getting yelled at for a mistake. That’s why it’s so important to do it right.

Some companies, like Google and Facebook, are known for elaborate break rooms. Games, TV’s, and modern furniture are some features that employees get to enjoy. The reason these companies approached their break room design int his way wasn’t simply because it’s cool or fun. It’s because they recognize the benefits for a well-designed shared space.

Now, this isn’t to say you need a huge budget to do up the break room like Google. In fact, you can do it for a fairly low cost (relatively speaking, of course). What’s important is that you do it right and avoid these mistakes when creating a break room your employees will love.

1. Buying Uncomfortable Furniture

Budgeting is always a concern when designing a break room, and it’s often why companies skimp on the furniture. But if the break room is a place for employees to relax for a few minutes, don’t you want them to be comfortable? When choosing furniture, be sure to do some research. Check out the reviews online or better yet test the furniture out yourself.

2. Choosing The Wrong Decorations

Research has shown that the right artwork in the workplace not only makes people happier but increases their productivity by 32%. That means avoiding cheesy posters of a mountain top with the word “courage” or “determination” written on them. Pick artwork that reflects your company’s culture and is inspirational without having to say it outright.

3. Not Having A Message Board

The break room is the one part of the workplace where everyone is welcome at any time. It’s where your work-community gathers on a daily basis, and this provides an opportunity for everyone to share important information and announcements. Every break room should have a message board for this reason.

4. Not Keeping It Food-Friendly

Large companies often have full kitchens that make up part of their break rooms. For smaller companies that don’t have that luxury, offering snacks through an office snack delivery service is more common. Either way, your break room should be a place where employees can easily enjoy lunch or a quick snack to help them power through the day.

5. Providing Bad Coffee

…or no coffee at all. As more Americans are drinking coffee now more than ever, it’s essential that you provide it in the office. It’s expected. Here at Supply Wizards, we offer a full variety of artisan and gourmet coffee options.

6. Ignoring Input From Employees

Since the break room is for all employees, you should involve them in the process. Listen to what they have to say and decide if the ideas are something to consider. You could take votes on specific things like paint color, lighting fixtures, or artwork. Involving them in this way makes them feel included and helps create a dynamic workplace culture.

An office coffee service could be the solution you need if you’re looking to increase productivity, improve company culture, or give employee satisfaction a boost. But with all the choices out there, it can be a challenge to decide which service would be a good fit for your office. This guide will help you answer questions like:

• Who will supply the coffee?
• What type of coffee equipment should your office use?
• Which flavors should you order?

As more and more people consider themselves coffee drinkers, it’s time you consider providing quality coffee in your office. Your employees will be thankful, and you’re likely to see an overall improvement in your day-to-day functions of the office.

The Benefits of An Office Coffee Service

When it comes to improving the workplace, coffee might not be the first idea that comes to mind. But study after study shows that coffee has many benefits, health-related ones aside. Here are some areas where coffee can improve your office.

Productivity

Coffee keeps you alert and helps improve mental performance. The caffeine it contains blocks a compound that causes drowsiness call adenosine. This is how coffee drinkers get an extra boost of energy in the morning, and how–during the lulls of the workday–employees can pick up the pace of their work.

Efficiency

How far is the closest coffee shop from your office? Unless you work in one, the answer is too far. Providing coffee in the office helps prevent employees from spending too much time trekking to the nearest Starbucks to get their cup o’ joe.

Office Culture

While you don’t want employees leaving the office for long stretches of time, coffee gives them a reason (and place) to gather for breaks. This might sound counterproductive, but taking short breaks are actually beneficial as they help clear your mind when working on a difficult task or give you an energy boost.

Morale

Low morale in any work environment will stifle productivity. There are a lot of ways to make employees feel valued and appreciated, and providing access to good coffee is one of them.

Different Types of Office Coffee Services

Now that you understand the value of having coffee in the office, which kind of service should you choose? The answer depends on a few factors, such as how many employees are in your office and what preferences they have. Here are some things to consider when searching for an office coffee service.

Coffee Equipment

There are endless options for coffee equipment to choose from, but they fall into one of these four categories:

• Commercial grade
• Consumer grade
• Keurig machine
• Coffee vending machine

Your particular office (the number of employees, space available, and personal preferences) will largely determine which route you should go.

Flavors

A major benefit of choosing an office coffee service is the variety. From light roast to dark roast, regular to gourmet, you can get virtually any type of coffee delivered right to your office.

So, should you hire an office coffee service? The answer is certainly yes, but it’s important to choose a service that suits your needs. Variety and timely delivery should be paramount in your search.