The way in which today’s offices operate has undergone several serious changes within the last months and years. The home office, which in the past was a rather rare solution, is now as popular as a traditional model of working in the brick-and-mortar office. While looking for new job perspectives, many employees are now checking if their future employer allows working from home, at least from time to time. This is one of the basic expectations that nearly all young employees have. Is it always good for your business? Is there a way to encourage employees to come to the office? Read the text to find out and learn how introducing new systems, such as timetable management software and a parking space booking app, can make things easier.
Advantages and disadvantages of a home office
It is said that the home office is a magnificent solution to increase productivity, save money, change your company image among job candidates and make your employees feel better. In many cases it is true to a great extent, however, depending on the employee, a home office can also become a source of problems for both of you. Unfortunately, not everyone is self-disciplined and can focus on their duties while spending time outside the office. This is also not a particularly good solution for people with small children, who spend their time at home. Most employees have a need to spend at least a few days a month in an actual office to bond with other employees and change their environment.
A few ways to get your employees to come to work
However, there is also a group of employees who don’t need to socialize and working from home suits them just fine. These people usually don’t see any point in coming to the office, however, you as the employer, probably want to see them at least from time to time. Check what you can do to encourage them to come to the office more frequently.
Organize safe workstations
Many employees who are reluctant to come back to the office after lockdown still fear COVID-19. Although the pandemic has been with us for several months, and we can get vaccinated, there is little that can be done to make sure that we won’t catch the virus. For this reason, many people, particularly older people, still avoid crowded places, one of which is a regular office. Creating safe workstations with plexiglass and encouraging employees to keep the necessary distance should still be your priority as it is essential to keep your employees in good health.
Theme events
Who said that working from the office has to be a mundane experience? What if you could turn it into a real adventure and fun? Organizing theme events at work is a great option to ease the atmosphere and give a productivity boost to your employees. A film night, a breakfast party, a festive lunch break or a costume day are just w few examples of the events that you can organize.
Flexibility as your top priority
Many job candidates are seeking companies that will offer a certain degree of flexibility when it comes to the actual place of work. Companies that allow their employees to freely choose whether they want to work from the office or from anywhere else in the world, tend to rank higher and are usually better assessed by their employees.
What else?
Employees who prefer working from home usually consider spending time in the office as an unnecessary waste of time and money. The worst for them is to get stuck in traffic and to look for parking free spaces in a hurry. Fortunately, the latter can be solved very efficiently and once and for all. If your employees fight over parking spaces, introduce a very useful tool, namely software for booking parking spaces. This will certainly be appreciated by all employees who come to work by car.
Having your employees in the office, at least a few times a month, is necessary if you want to keep track of what they are doing. Use our ideas to create a more friendly work environment that encourages visiting it more often.
If you’d like to introduce Parkalot – our car park management app – in your company, please contact us at contact-us@parkalot.io or book an onboarding call.Start using Parkalot in an hour. Allow your colleagues to commute by car, and park on the parking spaces assigned to those who are working from home.