An organized home office can drastically improve employee productivity. While a vaccine rollout will take place sometime soon, remote work is expected to persist in the post-pandemic setting. It is vital to ensure that employees remain productive, even at home.
Throughout the duration of the global pandemic, many professionals experienced different challenges with the work-from-home arrangement. People were observed to develop heightened stress and anxiety while they were sheltered-in-place. Regardless of their cause, these negative emotions can have adverse effects on their work.
Tidy Home Office, Increased Productivity
As an employer, it’s important to be wary of an employee’s well-being. While remote work makes it difficult to address their troubles, there are certain actions that can help to alleviate their anxieties at home. Simply reminding employees to keep their home offices organized will definitely lead to an improvement in their performance.
The home should primarily be their place of refuge. Unfortunately, the current circumstances have blurred the line between their professional and personal lives. This can cause them to feel unease, on top of their other concerns. Just the smallest amount of clutter can significantly add to their stress levels.
Helping employees foster a better work environment at home should be a priority for employers. Consider developing a practice to regularly advise employees to organize their offices at home. Suggest a few steps on how they can achieve a tidy space that can be beneficial to their productivity as well as their peace of mind.
Foster a Culture of Cleanliness
As employees continue to work-from-home, it’s important for employers to help them develop good cleaning habits. Allow them to regularly devote some time within their day to set up their home offices and accomplish some quick uncluttering before starting on work. This will make them feel responsible for their space and it will let them know how it impacts their performance.
Employers can offer their support by providing certain benefits for their cleaning needs. Using incentives, such as providing discounts for their Miele repair services or other cleaning machines, can be a feasible situation. While it’s a simple act, this will further reinforce their drive to maintain an organized home office. In the long run, it will definitely serve to boost their productivity as they continue to work remotely.
Create a Professional Environment
Recommending employees to have a dedicated space for their home office is a matter of fact. More than that, encourage them to create specific zones within that dedicated space. Each zone should serve a particular function or operation. For instance, their workspace could be divided into three primary areas: the work center, the reference center, and the supply center.
The work center is the main section where their work computer and other frequently used office products, like printers, are located. Binders, books, and other office-related resources can be placed within the reference center. Finally, the supply center should house small office materials and paper supplies. Doing this can recreate a more professional setting which can also affect their mentality as they work.
Desk Space Should be Dedicated
An employee’s desk is the most essential area of their home office that they should keep organized. This is the place where they will spend a majority of their work hours, so it’s important for it to remain clutter-free. As much as possible, advise employees to maintain a clean and simple desk space as they accomplish their tasks.
Advise employees to invest in small pieces of equipment like pen holders or hanging shelves to keep any unnecessary items off their desks. Consider the possibility of giving out a home-office allowance for them to achieve a better workspace. More than just tidying up their desk, this can also help them invest in the proper office equipment, furniture, and materials.
A Company’s Responsibility
Aside from boosting productivity, there are other important benefits for employees to gain from keeping an organized home office. For instance, being organized can help them save a lot of time. Knowing where to put things away or look for them can greatly reduce an employee’s stress levels.
It’s more than just maintaining a space to be visually pleasing; it’s also about ensuring a certain sense of peace and calm for employees. During these trying times, achieving that peace has become crucial. The shift to work-from-home arrangements was too sudden.
While it was highly unexpected, it falls upon companies to make sure that their employees remain comfortable and productive as they work remotely. There has been an increase in the likelihood of adopting the work-from-home setup even after the pandemic has passed. It makes this particular responsibility of employers all the more imperative.
