3 Ways to Make Your Office Better

Office life, when it's fun and productive, you don't mind being there at all. And you're earning money as a bonus. When it's tense, boring or worse, bitchy, it can be hell on earth. And no amount of salary can make it feel OK. 

So what can you do to turn your office into a more appealing place to be without firing the boss and all the people you don't like?

Here are the 3 most successful methods we've used to turn the atmosphere and productivity of an office round in the past. With advice on how you can do it for your work space.

1. Start a Softball Team / Soccer Team
We introduce team sports to office and organize tournaments. Softball is usually the most successful because unlike other sports, not many people are 'experts' and it is as inclusive for men as for women. It's a fun game which means that although it gets competitive, there is still lots of laughing and camaraderie. We manage the whole even for organizations but if you were to try this in your office, the key to making these tournaments work is appointing someone in the office to be the Chief Tournament Officer. They put up the print outs detailing game dates and league tables etc. There is always someone in the office who loves a bit of a spreadsheet! Bosses love this because it creates a unity amongst staff, it's a real leveller - CEO plays alongside junior exec etc. and it promotes a feeling of loyalty to the company.



2. Relaxation Sessions
We usually train staff to get fitter and help them to unwind and manage their sleep and stress. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how well stressed out (men in particular) take to the relaxation and yoga sessions we offer. We learned pretty early that by labelling the sessions as yoga, the employees would always arrive skeptical about it all. When we called them Relaxation sessions, everyone was motivated to give it a go. Despite it being the same thing. The most successful has been sessions the day before employees have to do presentations or run important meetings. It seems to take the nerves away and leave a sense of calm. So perhaps try organizing these in your company the day before a pitch or AGM.

3.One to One Sessions
OK - these tend to be a more costly benefit offered to lucky employees but they are hugely effective in helping employees increase confidence, self esteem and balance home life and work life so much better. most people get pushed and pulled in all areas of their life and always feel that something suffers. It doesn't have to be this way and simple coaching techniques and analysis of their current situation often leads to a light bulb moment for people. They rarely slip back into their old habits.
If you were to try and do something similar for your office, perhaps start mentoring programs that deal with life as a whole and not just career progress.

I hope you get to try one of these options - or all of them - with your office and I'd love to hear your questions and feedback. Every office can be made better - I haven't come across one yet that couldn't.

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Surfing the net is good for the office

They used to call them tea breaks. And some folk call them fag breaks. But for the majority, it's all about E-breaks. That 10 minute surf online to get your banking done or read emails on Facebook. These mini breaks have become a life line to people in offices and helps to break up the day but as more and more companies block Facebook and other social networking sites, have they made a mistake?

According to a new report, surfing the internet actually makes workers more productive because it boosts morale and helps reduce stress.

Seemingly, the right length of break to surf the internet can be even more beneficial than the good old fashioned English tea break which has always been at the heart of successful British working culture.

This research illustrates something that we've known for a long time which is that there are two key factors to creating the ideal workplace.

1. Make sure every single person within the organisation is catered for when implementing staff benefits and incentives.
The tea break appealed to everyone in the past because:
a) everyone drank tea and
b) it was a legitimate time away from the work station. E-breaks are popular because most people either enjoy surfing social networking sites or appreciate time to take care of some personal admin online. Other popular incentives such as flexible working hours and trading hours worked for extra holiday work well because they will appeal to the majority of the workforce at some time, whether it be now or in the future.

2. Make sure benefits and incentives do actually benefit the staff and the organisation.
Every single individual likes to be recognised and appreciates being valued. Providing workers with a benefit that is all about them is the best way in the world to encourage them to think positively about you as an individual in your role in the business and to feel valued by the business as a whole. If they experience these feelings regularly, they will perform to the best of their abilities for the majority of the time. In short, the right incentives, delivered the right way mean everyone's a winner.

When we work with our clients we make sure that participants in our programmes have the opportunity to receive help and advice on all aspects of their health, fitness, diet and lifestyle. We never forget that people have equally important roles to play in their lives as well as being employees. We always try to ensure that employees have the opportunity to work on personal issues both from the workplace and in their wider world, meaning they can develop skills that benefit them personally as well as the business.

And this is the kind of feedback that tells us we got it right...

Since we began the programme, the impact to the participants at both a personal and business level has been fantastic and we're seeing a real improvement in motivation, happiness and quality of work - thus impacting on the service to customers.

If you're interested to read more about how we can achieve such results, visit our website

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Avoid Office Burnout

Blogging yesterday about the benefits of making workplaces healthier and the impact that has on the corporate bottom line as well as the...erm, employee bottom line is nothing new to me. It's what I do in my day job but it's always great to see the message being spread elsewhere too. I read this article last night and it completely backs up everything I wrote in my post.

More and more companies, both large and small are finally realising that they need to address the problem of their staff health. Its fine to expect staff to work hard and deliver for you but that can come at some cost if they feel burnt out and stressed. So much absenteeism is as the result of musculo-skeletal damage and stress from working in highly pressured environments and sometimes dysfunctional atmospheres. This can be addressed in different ways depending on the exact needs of that company.  For example, some of the clients we work with in highly pressurised industries have wanted us to teach their employees how to relax & focus their minds during the day and unwind after work (yoga/relaxation sessions).  Others have opted for a broader approach to health and wellbeing in their workplace and we've run nutrition workshops and food diary analysis alongside group fitness courses which help their staff eat and feel better.   This always raises energy levels and morale but staff loyalty increases too and so staff turnover drops.  

Read the article if you get a moment but this particular comment I felt was worth mentioning.
Ben Wilmott from Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says

"Employers shouldn't try to get into the leisure industry, it is about communicating the message and providing opportunities."

This is absolutely right - workplaces are for working but without offering an opportunity for staff to recharge and unwind, productivity will only ever decline. 

It depends whether businesses want to have it all or if they want to keep pushing and pushing and dealing with large employee turnover.


Photograph by meyshanworld (Flickr)

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How Fit is Your Office?

Look around your office right now. How do your colleagues look? Fit, toned, energized, 'match ready'? And what about you? You feeling fit and healthy at the moment and on top of your game?

Chances are that the answer to these questions is no. But it's not a gym so what does it matter what shape your office in.?

Well, that's where you're wrong.

Businesses lose billions each year because of poor health amongst their employees either because of rising absenteeism or because of the increased cost of providing health care. In short, the less healthy your employees, the more likely they are to away from the office (costing businesses money). But people get sick sometimes, that can't be helped. What can be helped is making changes in offices to help people deal with stress and other ailments that lead to absenteeism and bring those numbers right down. Not wishing to simplify this complex issue too much, small changes can make a huge impact to businesses if employers engaged a little more with their staff.

Try these suggestions out on your employees:

1.Introduce sporting events that are inclusive and not just 'all about the boys'. Think beyond soccer tournaments and get mixed teams together. This really brings out the healthy competitive spirit amongst staff, promotes loyalty to the company and energises the workforce. Try buying a company Wii Fit and start a tournament and see how quickly people get into the spirit.
2. Supplying a daily fruit bowl in the office - small thing but it sends out the message that your employees health is your concern and you want them to eat well and be well and you're paying for it.
3. Reconsider some of your current employee benefits and perhaps shift the budget into more useful areas. Subsidised on-site back massage; personal training sessions for groups; installing a bike rack and showers to encourage staff to get out of their cars.
4. When working with our clients, we always try to do one-to-one consultations to get to the root of what each employees life is like beyond the office. Then we can suggest quick fitness and relaxation tips that fit around their busy lives rather than dump them with an unrealistic plan that will never work in the long term. Listening to employees is key to making the changes stick.
5. Offer yoga or relaxation classes - these have a HUGE effect on eliminating staff stress and sends the message that you take some of the responsibility of helping your staff unwind after work.
6. Be authentic. Gimmicks always sounds like gimmicks and employees see right through them. The company should embrace and support healthy changes they introduce and managers should drive these forward. Be flexible with employees so they can take part in the schemes you set up. Perhaps reward a day off for winners of a tournament.

These changes may not sounds revolutionary but they will have a positive effect on staff attitudes, attendance and productivity. Your company is only as fit as your workforce after all.


Photograph by Joe Hoover (Flickr)

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Free Donuts For The Office

Does your company offer great benefits?

We're not talking about the basic, core plans that most companies give you like Pensions, Life Assurance and Health Care.

We're talking about the extra perks. The kind of benefits that would attract you to a job, the kind of benefits that you brag about to your friends and the kind of benefits that may just stop you leaving that company.

The gym and yoga workouts and other wellness services we offer out clients always go down well but take a look at some of the other perks we've come across over the years.

The Indulgent
Bacon sandwiches on Fridays
Weekly Donuts / Bagels
Cakes on your birthday
Beers All Round on Friday afternoons

The Downright Useful
Subsidised Car Parking
Language Courses
Advanced Driving Lessons
Lifestyle Management services
Executive Coaching (could save on therapy bills)
Duvet Days

The Unusual
Subsidised pole dancing classes (this is real -a TV company I know paid for their PA's to go along to these classes)
Padded room for staff brainstorming

Does your company offer anything that can beat these?


Photograph by François @ Edito.qc.ca (Flickr)

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How Can You Keep Your Employees Happy?

Weekly bonuses and 60 days paid leave!

No seriously, how can you give employees a benefit that will actually make them more motivated, focused and ultimately, loyal to the company? As part of the research that we do as an organisation we witness businesses spending an enormous amount of time and energy trying to tackle this and many times, they get it wrong. Sometimes, giving people more 'stuff' doesn't motivate them. It has to be the right sort of 'stuff'.

We use various methods but here's 3 ways you can get started:

1. Speak to your employees. Ask them what will make them happier. Make sure your benefits really are benefits. A carefully designed process (smart questionnaires, one-to-one chats) to get the right information from staff can lead to a targeted initiative achieving fantastic results.

2. Give staff access to the resources they need to achieve success. Don’t leave them any reason or excuse to think that what they've told you they need has fallen on deaf ears. Our expertise is in wellbeing so when we run corporate fitness programs, we make sure that our clients have access to everything they need to take instant and ongoing action by providing experts on site, fully developed programs and regular guidance and motivation.

3. Measure progress. You’ve got to know that what you’re doing works so regular measurement is vital and helps to keep staff happy on two levels. Firstly, by consulting them they feel involved in what’s going on and take a degree of ownership in the project. Secondly, assessing progress helps you to evolve the most effective initiatives over time and ditch what isn't working.



Photograph by juicystyle (Flickr)

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