Staff turnover in an office can be caused by a number of different issues. Working conditions, frustration and a lack of engagement with the role to name but a few.
The cost of replacing staff, recruitment fees and lost income due to not necessarily being able to complete work effectively can all have an effect on a business’s finances.
So how can office design ease staff churn and ultimately save a business money on recruitment?
Engaging with staff
Staff that don’t feel a part of a business, disengaged and potentially trapped in a working environment that doesn’t excite and inspire them can be a major problem for businesses.
These are the staff that are likely to leave, and in the interim the work they deliver might not be as good as it could have been.
Enlisting office design specialists, such as Penketh Group, can help in these situations. Creating an office environment that is much more inviting, comfortable and inspiring can work wonders on staff morale. Creating somewhere were people actually want to come and work and makes a striking impression on staff, customers, and interviewees can put them in the right mind-set to work with and for a business.
Looking at the needs of staff, their roles and their day to day tasks, then finding ways in which office design can help make these tasks easier and improve working conditions can keep staff engaged with a business. From layout to the facilities an office provides, the simple to the extraordinary, meeting and exceeding the needs of staff demonstrates a level of dedication to staff from their employer that can build morale and foster a sense of loyalty to a business.
Helping concentration
One way to keep staff engaged is to make it easier for them to focus on their job. Dedicated quiet areas and breakout spaces are great ways to give staff the opportunity to get away from their desks, change their surroundings and focus on a task.
Quiet, cosy areas, or a staff canteen that has the ability to transition into a relaxed and informal working space, breakout areas are versatile and can be made to fit around the rest of an office layout.
Having the option just to get away from the hustle and bustle of an office can help people to refocus and reengage with what they are doing. This can help reduce frustration at working conditions, stopping staff feeling disengaged and reducing churn.
Aiding collaboration
Using office design to help facilitate getting work done can also help staff feel more engaged with their workplace. Engaged staff will see their office as a benefit to their ability to work not a hindrance, this is why collaborative areas are crucial.
These are spaces set aside to allow groups to complete tasks, plan and discuss without disrupting the rest of the office. They should promote collaborative thinking and allow for the easy sharing of information. This might mean including technology such as interactive whiteboards and projectors for working together on a document or presentation. Or it might mean simply being a space that allows staff to talk in a relaxed environment, such as training sessions or one to one meetings.
These are spaces intended to inspire staff, think clearly and collaborate to deliver effective work. Not having these can hamper creativity, disrupt an office, especially in an open-plan setting and be a major source of frustration for staff. Feeling like you are creatively stifled because you can’t focus can lead to staff looking for other places to work where they feel they will be more effective and able to work.
Getting the design of an office right, and meeting the needs of staff can pay major dividends for a business. Instead of frustrated, disengaged staff and a high level of staff turnover, a business has engaged staff, able to work creatively and focus on the tasks required of them.
Making working life easier builds a better sense of unity, reducing the reasons why staff would leave a business considerably.
