With employees leaving their jobs more frequently in recent years than ever, employee retention is on the minds of almost every business owner and HR manager. One creative way to retain staff that you may not have thought of is through office design. If it’s time for your workers to head back into the office, embrace the future of office design and focus on employee retention by creating a workspace they’ll want to return to every day.
Employee Retention
People began quitting their jobs in droves once the COVID-19 pandemic started to cool down in the middle of 2021. Since then, millions of people have left their jobs. For example, from September 2021 to August 2022, an average of over 4 million people quit their jobs every month.
This mass exodus of workers from their current jobs is being called The Great Resignation. A majority of employees aren’t leaving the workforce altogether, either. Instead, they’re finding new jobs that make them happier.
For many businesses, this was a huge wake-up call. HR professionals and business owners are now searching for ways to keep their qualified employees around. After all, maintaining current workers is much more affordable than going through the hiring process for new ones. Valuing your employees now will ensure they’re there later.
How To Design Your Office Layout For Employee Retention
As the COVID pandemic winds down and public spaces re-open, mask mandates are relaxed, and vaccines become more widely available, workers are being called back to the office. Going from working remotely to an office setting will be challenging for many. It should be your goal to make that transition as smooth as possible.
To help your employees stay happy coming back to the office, aim to make the office as comfortable and welcoming as can be by following our design tips for an office layout for employee retention:
- Natural Light. The most important thing you can include in your workplace to make employees happier is equal access to loads of natural light. Not only will employees feel better working in the sunlight, but they’ll also be more focused and productive. A great way to introduce natural light is to lower cubicle walls.
- Collaboration Spaces. Your employees are at the office so they can work together, not so they can huddle up in their cubicles or office for the entire day. To promote employee interaction, build fun and comfortable spaces that allow employees to work, create, and learn together.
- A Variety of Work Areas. Collaboration spaces are great. But you should also divide your office into work areas that allow your employees to work and relax in the way that best suits them. Consider designing areas for solo work, group collaboration, and private conversations. Some offices are even creating dedicated meditation rooms for their workers.
- Employee Input. Instead of making top-down decisions about your office design, consider asking your employees what they’d want in a workspace. After all, they’re the ones that will be using it the most!
- Ergonomics: Offering your employees ergonomic adjustable chairs and height adjustable desks is a great way to ensure their comfort and happiness at work.
Perfect Your Office Design
There is a strong connection between happiness at the workplace and employee retention and productivity. To ensure your employees stick around for the long run, designing your office for employee retention is vital.
Our team at Arizona Corporate Interiors is an experienced commercial furniture and space planning design firm in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. We work with small-to-medium businesses in the Phoenix-Mesa area to help them create intentionally planned, comfortable, and stylish office spaces.
Call one of our sales consultants today to schedule an appointment and design your future forward office space.