How can we make the workplace better for all people while improving performance across the board? Many studies, research projects, and surveys have been undertaken to find the fastest route to the utopian workplace, and some of the findings may surprise you.
61% of Employees Are More Productive in a Relaxed Dress Code Environment
A three-week social experiment sought to discover whether a formal or more relaxed dress code resulted in better productivity.
One might think that when an office is dressed formally, they act more professionally and they therefore get more done.
In fact, as people felt more relaxed when wearing less formal clothing, their confidence grew, allowing them to do their better work. The change in attire had no noticeable effect on energy or focus.
Other studies have confirmed this notion. People continue to want to dress smartly at work and they trust their colleagues more when their colleagues make an effort with their appearance (as opposed to being scruffy), but the style and formality of the clothing choices are not important.
Due to this, companies should look to relax dress code requirements gradually while keeping minimum “work clothes” standards in place.
52% of Employees Say They Would Stay at Their Current Position for Longer if They Received More Recognition
What best motivates people at work? Money, right? In fact, studies have concluded that the best way to improve individual motivation is through recognition in the workplace. People produce better work when they know that they’re going to be recognized for their abilities, hard work, and improvement.
Other things that improve employee retention and motivation include personal autonomy, a fair chance of promotion, better training, and higher pay. None of these improvements in the workplace has as drastic an effect on worker performance as being recognized for their work, though.
Think of ways that you can recognize the hard work of your staff. Whenever someone goes above and beyond the call of duty, find time to broadcast this and make them feel good for doing so. It can cost virtually nothing and will improve employee morale immensely.
The Workplace Is the No. 1 Place to Find Love
Response to a survey from Glassdoor shows that around 50% of romances begin in the workplace. Of these romances, a quarter of them eventually leads to marriage! Women are slightly more likely to find love in the workplace than men are, or at least more women are likely to respond to a survey saying they fell in love at work than men are.
It’s often thought that office romances can be disruptive, but with so much of it going on you might as well just roll with it. 71% of workers say they don’t care whether any of their colleagues are having an office romance, and 89% say it’s “none of their business.”
Think there could a secret office romance in your workplace? It’s almost guaranteed – 70% of office romances are kept completely secret and half of the respondents said they had a secret crush on a colleague right now!
45% of People Have Gained Weight at Their Current Position
Perhaps it’s the inevitable ticking away of time, but a study by Career Builder showed that two out of every five U.S workers has put on weight at their current position.
These employees believed the main reasons they gained weight at their current job is from sitting at their desk most of the day, being too tired from work to exercise, lacking the time to exercise before or after work, and eating because of stress.
This spells disaster for employee health, morale, and performance. Around a third of companies now offer various wellness benefits such as workout facilities or free gym passes, but the majority of at-risk workers do not take advantage of these benefits. This could be because they feel they lack the time or energy to jump on a treadmill during their only downtime of the day.
Employers should take further steps to ensure the health and happiness of their workforce, and employees should recognize the potential health issues of a sedentary work life and get out of the cycle before it becomes a significant issue for them.
