Offering ways for employees to relax after working hard in the office can be one of the best means for businesses to raise staff wellbeing and productivity, it has been claimed.
Andrew Hodgkins, acting managing director at Keith Prowse, said a side effect of the office culture can be that workers get run down and one of the best pick-me-ups that firms can offer can be complementary meals to fine dining restaurants, tickets to sporting events or non-monetary perks.
He commented: "As well as reducing stress, entertaining at top sports events can be a fitting reward as part of an internal incentive scheme, increasing staff motivation."
According to research carried out by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, four out of five European managers are concerned about stress in the workplace.
Indeed, the report claimed that concern about psychosocial risks such as stress, violence and harassment is increasing in European organisations.
If the office environment is affecting productivity and staff wellbeing then we would do well to consider that it is not the desks and chairs that cause the toxic environment. The environment is created by the people who inhabit it, and the people who have the most influence on that environment are the managers and supervisors.
It is their behaviour towards the rest of the workforce that affects productivity and staff wellbeing.
What you appear to be suggesting is that a solution to the stress and frustration caused by these influential people is for the workforce to spend more time in their company. Hmmm.
Perhaps a better solution would be to find out what is the behaviour that causes the toxic work environment, and stop doing it.
Peter A Hunter
http://www.breakingthemould.co.uk