How to Attract Employees to Your Office

How to Lure Employees from the Home Office: Building the Best Offices for Workers

Employers asking their workers to come back to the office are continuing to get push-back. Employees have settled into a remote routine that allows them to stay comfortable at home, avoid the daily commute, and more. Despite positive productivity among those who have worked remotely during the pandemic, most business owners are hoping a return to the office will further improve performance, boost morale, and create a better culture.

So, what do you do when your employees are hesitant to leave the home office? You make the corporate office more appealing and accommodating than ever. And starting with these top four areas of concern will be sure to bolster your office attendance.

1.       Amenities Matter

In the office, it’s important that your employees feel that they can get all the comforts that they had at home and then some. Consider upgrading your beverage bar with better coffee and tea options and providing healthy snacks for mid-day cravings. Also, select an office location near restaurants or fitness options, which could also incentivize employees to leave home.

2.       Give Your Employees Flexibility

The pandemic shifted the day-to-day pattern of your employees work and lifestyle. Giving your workers freedom with how they structure their days will help employees transition back to an office environment with less resistance. Additionally, consider utilizing an office hoteling approach. This would allow your people to reserve a workspace that suits the type of work they need to do that day.

3.       Make Fun a Fundamental Aspect of Your Office Culture

Look outside the standard happy hour to engage your workers and make your office environment a more enjoyable place to be. After all, employees that have fun and enjoy their time at work are proven to be healthier and more productive. Prioritizing celebrating birthdays, planning office lunches with food better than your standard neighborhood pizza, or allowing pets in the office are all great ways to bring joy to the office.

Organizing events that keep the workplace fun also boost collaboration and interpersonal relationships. Volunteering as a group or participating in a charity 5k walk bonds employees and forms valuable connections that are difficult to develop from the home office. Events like this are not only enjoyable deviations from the everyday workday, but they also show that you as an employer care about more than just generating revenue.

4.       Collaboration Space Is Key

Last but not least, it’s essential to have dynamic workspaces where your employees can come together. If your workers feel that they can be productive remotely, they need a good reason to put on a blazer and come into the office. But if your office space isn’t structured in a way that makes collaborating easy, your employees will be left wondering, “Why am I even here?”

Take the time to evaluate if your office space has enough conference and breakout rooms to allow different sizes of groups to meet. Additionally, it’s important that these rooms have the right technology needed for employees, clients, and more to join remotely. You may need to develop additional collaboration spaces in your office, like communal tables or comfortable seating areas where your workers can easily connect with one another.

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Overall, changing human habits is not an easy thing to do. But the last several years taught business owners, employees, and people in general to adapt. So, if employers want to shift worker routines from the home office to the corporate office, there needs to be a reworking of the modern workplace first. And it starts with making the office a place that your people simply want to be.

Do you have questions about this topic or any other commercial real estate matter? Reach out to Rokos today!

Rokos Advisors is an award-winning Minneapolis – St. Paul-based commercial real estate/tenant representation firm specializing in helping businesses find the perfect office or industrial space for their company.